Q&A: The Response

Well, I didn’t expect that. We got an overwhelmingly positive response to our news but, clearly, there were still some questions that you needed answered. Hopefully I spent large portions of the day answering those questions but if there is anything you still think you deserve more information about then get in touch. I think I’ve answered every question but there were obviously a few “repeats” and no point in answering the same question twice so I just answered the first instance of the question that I came across.

Let’s get down to it then…

Is TSA going fully multi platform or still staying Sony oriented?

Who knows what the future holds? Right now though, we’re a PlayStation site with predominantly PlayStation experts amongst our writing team so our focus will be Sony’s brand. We have added two new writers to our team so that we can start adding news and features about other platforms without losing our excellent PlayStation content.

With the influx of 360 fans flocking to the site, will there be games and community activites organised for them? Also, how will you maintain the PS3 orientation, without letting 360-specific gamers feel like they’re being made to take a back seat?

The Community side of things is Liam’s domain and I’m sure he will have some exciting updates for everyone soon. I can say that we will almost certainly be running community events for certain big 360 titles as well as some events which might be multiplatform. It’s nice that you think we’ll get a sudden influx of 360 fans but in reality we’re honestly expecting that it will be more of a gradual swell and because of that it will be easier to cater to them without sacrificing any of the PS3 community features. Many of our community members already own a 360 so we’re hoping for their help with making the incoming 360 fans feel welcome and involved.

Are there any measure being taken to ensure that the personal feel of the site remains.  The fact that you guys are so accessible is one of the major factors in TSA being a great site and I don’t want the site to get so huge that the little guys lose site of the guys at the top?

I think you’ve hit on the one thing that TSA has which other sites haven’t had when they’ve made a move like this one. We’re all about our community. We honestly think the stars of TSA are our community and the writers are all fans of you guys. That sounds like a load of wank, we know, but it’s the truth. We honestly don’t think that we would ever stop caring what you all write in the comments but if we ever do I expect the community would let us know pretty quickly. So in short, the measures have already been taken for us by the community. If I start acting like a nob and ignoring the community how long do you think it will be before someone says “hey, cb, you’re being a nob. What’s up with that?”

Does multiplatform mean just PS3, PSP and XBox, or will it be all formats?

Initially, our extra content will be about the 360 but there may be occasional features about other platforms sprinkled in. So at first it will be just PS3, PSP and Xbox360. Let’s see how well we can do that without expanding too quickly!

Will there be a name change?

There are absolutely no plans to change the name at this time. Plans can change so we won’t say never but as far as we’re concerned TSA is TSA, no matter what we cover.

Will the non-Sony formats get the same features the Sony formats currently do?

We’re not sure. We’re starting slowly and planning on a gradual build up because we are not prepared to sacrifice our existing coverage. We will trial features as they occur to us and see how well they are received by the community before we decide whether or not we’ll keep them running.

What will the penalties be for fanboyism? I ask this as on other sites I try my hardest not to be a fanboy, but sometimes I do sink that low, especially on the subject of exclusives and the RROD, YLOD etc.

Anything extreme will be (and actually already is) filtered out by our spam-catcher, people are banned for being nobs and you probably never even notice they were here. Anything that we think is a bit nob-like will result in deduction of TSA points. We do not and will not tolerate confrontational fanboy statements. Unless they’re about the ZX Spectrum, which was far superior to the Commodore 64.

Will there be more competitions/ challenges etc. or will those numbers be split between the different formats?

There will be more. Simple. We are not going to sacrifice our current content at all so it will continue as it always has. We do want to offer incentives to our growing 360 readership though so we will almost certainly run challenges and competitions for them.

How many will be joining the staff? Are the two already mentioned the extent, or will there be more?

For now we’ve added two new team members. There might be more in the future but we will assess those needs as they arise.

How many guest writers will there be, and how do we go about joining their ranks?

We’re not putting a limit on numbers. We are aware that our community have great ideas and would like the chance to air their views. We’re also aware that people might not be confident with writing for publication. I will be asking that if you’re interested in writing a guest piece for TSA you send me your article (or your ideas if you’re only at that stage) and we will work with you to get it to a point where we can publish it. There will be more about this in the near future but I’m sure you all understand that there is a lot going on so it might be a week or so before we finalise plans.

How do we know that the quality of PS3 articles won’t lessen? Other sites have done the same and promised the same, yet the same thing always happens.

Well, to be completely honest with you: You don’t. We don’t have any guarantees for you. We’re asking that you trust us and give us a chance to show you that we’re going to do this right. Hopefully you’re all here because you like what we’ve done so far. Perhaps you’ll also like what we do in the future.

Even if the 360 community eventually becomes more overwhelming than the PS3 community, will the PS3 remain the focus of the site?

Well, we can’t make any guarantees but you know that we’re all PlayStation fans. My personal preference is generally towards the PS3, even though I like my 360 – I prefer my PS3. Several of our writers only own a PS3 and have no plans to buy an Xbox. Our most loyal, most loved community members are PS3 users. So it would be stupid for us to lose focus on the PlayStation content unless something huge happens. As we have stated repeatedly, we are not going to sacrifice our PS3 coverage. If you think our general content on the PS3 side is declining over time then email us and let us know your concerns and we’ll assess it. You’re as important to TSA as I am. But I choose the biscuits ok?

Will there be separate forums for each platform?

This is Liam’s domain so it will ultimately be his decision. I would presume so, simply because our Forums are busy enough at the moment without adding a whole new demographic to the mix. Also, the different platforms may have different requirements in a forum and we will want to cater that to the community as much as possible. I think Liam has done a fantastic job as Community Manager since he was appointed and I think he’ll be able to sort out this stuff and still keep everyone happy.

What are your long-term future plans?  Are you looking to keep growing until you become a massive site which will possibly lose the small tight-knit community or do you want to keep this community but miss out on the chance to greatly increase your audience figures?

We want to keep doing this for as long as we enjoy it. We are acutely aware that without you guys we’d just be a group of friends writing articles for each other to read. I went to a creative writing class once that was like that, it was horrible. Take a look around the site, there isn’t a lot of advertising is there? So why would we sacrifice the thing that makes us enjoy it when we wouldn’t actually gain any revenue? We like getting a lot of visitors through here but, honestly, it’s not the most important thing to us.

With the likely massive increase in traffic to the site, won’t this case even more problems with bandwith?

Well, we’re not expecting a sudden rush of visitors. We expect it will be a gradual thing and we are putting measures in place (via our merchandise store, advertising and possible sponsorship) that will hopefully mean an end to our bandwidth issues. If all else fails we’ll start selling the services of Davs to rich old widows on the cold weekends. Seriously, we’ll worry about this if and when it happens but we think we’ve got things in place now that will make it possible to forget our past bandwidth woes.

I was wondering are there going to be community competitions for xbox 360 only? If there were I would be very dissapointed as I have enjoyed the few I have been in and don’t want to be excluded from any more.

Well, yes. There will almost certainly be community features that are Xbox-only but, as we’ve said repeatedly, these will be in addition to the PS3 features, not at the expense of them. You won’t miss out on anything because of the changes; there will simply be more going on.

Is this multi-platform movement permanent or on a trial basis?

It’s permanent. We will always allow some coverage of other platforms from now on. How much coverage we publish and how often is dependent on the amount of interest we receive.

Is TSA2 the Xbox site that you have been planning?

No, TSA2 is something different. Completely different. It’s on the backburner at the moment because we have so much else happening (even before this announcement) but we like the level of interest we’ve been getting.

Do you have multi platform (but same game) competitions in mind?

This is Liam’s domain but as far as I know there is already one in the pipeline. I don’t expect we’ll ever do anything that works to a PS3 Vs. 360 format though. Unless that’s something that our community would like.

Will we see any massive changes to the layout of TSA?

No. If you click the “Sony” filter on the main site then you shouldn’t see any changes other than the alterations to the graphics that you have already seen. There might be a slight increase in general industry coverage with the addition of our new writers but I really don’t expect any huge changes to be necessary (or beneficial).

Is this all to do with money?

No, I wish it was. We don’t actually make money from the site. We just barely cover server costs. We do this because we love doing it, we love the site and we love you, our community. We don’t expect the changes to bring in any extra revenue but if it does it will almost certainly be taken up with an increase in our bandwidth requirements. Now, could you lend me £50?

Are you confident or just stabbing in the dark at this “revolution”?

Well, we’re confident that we want to do it. We’re confident that our community will be able to embrace it and we’re confident that we will end up with a better site because of it. If I didn’t have confidence in the plan then I wouldn’t have announced it to you all – you don’t need any more opportunities to mock me!

Can you give a rough % on how much will be PS3 and how much will be other consoles in terms of coverage?

Not at this time. We simply don’t know. I can tell you that we will not put up with a lessening of our PS3 content and any content based on other platforms will be an addition rather than a replacement. I also expect our coverage of other platforms (primarily the 360 at this time) to be a gradual build rather than a sudden rush of coverage. If you think we’re letting our PS3 coverage slip then email us and let us know.

Can your server handle the imminent extra users?

Oh dear sweet lord, we hope so! Seriously, yes it can. As I’ve said elsewhere, I expect our readership to grow gradually rather than be a sudden rush of excited 360 fans!

Will you be employing further writers if things get too much?

To put it simply: Yes we will. We will not allow our current level of PS3 coverage to slip so if we feel that we need to be covering more and our writers are already stretched then we will take on new writers to pick up the extra content.

What is wrong with the way things are now? There must be a reason and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that you have been planning this for quite some time… but why?

In all honesty this hasn’t been the culmination of a huge master-plan. It’s just something we’d like to do and we think people would like to see us do. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the way things are now (thanks for noticing!) but we felt that we would like to diversify. We don’t get paid for this; we do it because we enjoy it. We thought we would enjoy writing about other platforms too. It really is that simple. We’re trying to implement it in a way that causes as little impact on our readership as possible and we’re doing our best to explain what we are doing and be honest and open with the people who made the site what it is – you.

You have been posting major news articles about the 360 for a couple of months now…Why the sudden change to becoming a multiplatform site, if this is apparently what you will still be doing? In effect you will be doing the same thing as before.

We have previously covered 360 stuff which has been important on an industry level (or as a comparison) but we haven’t really done anything which is specific to that platform before. Even when we write about things we think are important industry-wide that involve the 360 we get comments from people telling us we shouldn’t be talking about it. This move gives us the freedom to cover more and not have to justify the intricacies of our editorial decisions to people.

Is it possible to get a PS3 only RSS feed?

Yes,Alex is going to sort that out soon. I will tell you that all our stories will be clearly marked with the platforms they correspond to and our filter system, which is already in place, will remove all 360-specific stories from the site as you see it if that’s what you want (and vice-versa). Soon the filter switch will even remove the relevant console from the site graphics so you won’t even have to look at it!

Please tell me TSA will still be TSA and not WiiMoTSAX360?

TSA will still be TSA. As much as we love acronyms here, I couldn’t even work out what all of yours meant!

What’s the TSA team’s favourite iPhone game?

This made me giggle when I was expecting heavy questions about the new move so I’m answering it. Mine is definitely Peggle with Flight Control coming a close second. Touch Cricket makes fantastic use of the interface but I’m utter rubbish at it.

Did I understand it good that the system with the TSA-points will disappear?

No, our points system is very much a part of our future. There was news about it this morning. This is something which hasn’t been easy to set up and has taken a lot of behind the scenes work from Alex (nofi) to get it right. We wouldn’t abandon it without an extremely good reason. In fact, there is more coming but you’ll just have to wait and see what that is.

Hey, seeing as the TSA Points are now taking up a more important role in the site, I was wondering if there was going to be a better system for monitoring TSA Points. There are instances where people (in my opinion) have needed TSA Points removed but seemingly nothing has happened. Then there’s instances where tips and trophy lists are submitted but no points are submitted. I’m currently waiting on roughly 325 points for three trophy lists and a news tip. I don’t know how your staff is structured, but maybe designating someone to take control of the points make things easier. Also, maybe it’s worth adding a drop down box that says “Trophy List” in the contact/submit form.

Firstly, you’ll get the points that you’re owed. As I’m sure you’ll understand, there has been a lot going on so we may not have gotten around to awarding a few points yet. We will be doing everything we can to ensure that people get the points they deserve for the Trophy Lists and news tips (among other things). If anyone has any complaint to make against another member then drop us an email. We will deduct points from people if we receive justified complaints but we can’t be everywhere or wee everything so we do rely on our community to point these things out to us. I think we generally do alright with it but if we could do better then please feel free to show us where and how. We’ve also appointed two new forum mods (take a bow: BrendanCalls and Hodgi92) and there will be more if our community grows to a point where we think it’s necessary.