Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

Cheerful Ghost 1 Year Anniversary

1 year ago today I had a party at my house celebrating the launch of a new game site called Cheerful Ghost. The initial concept was born out of a few problems I had with gaming. I had a ton of games but no way to share that list with anyone. I also wanted to talk to awesome people about the games I loved but I couldn't find a place anywhere that made sense to do that. I also realized as I was online and read things about other games no place tied what everyone said about a game together. For instance, if I went to a game site it wasn't easy to view all the posts and information for a single game like Super Mario Brothers or Starcraft. I also didn't like gaming sites I... Read All 1 year ago today I had a party at my house celebrating the launch of a new game site called Cheerful Ghost. The initial concept was born out of a few problems I had with gaming. I had a ton of games but no way to share that list with anyone. I also wanted to talk to awesome people about the games I loved but I couldn't find a place anywhere that made sense to do that. I also realized as I was online and read things about other games no place tied what everyone said about a game together. For instance, if I went to a game site it wasn't easy to view all the posts and information for a single game like Super Mario Brothers or Starcraft. I also didn't like gaming sites I saw as no normal person seemed to matter much. Paid journalists were front and center as the focus of many sites and as such normal people were relegated to the comments section which are often lame areas to talk about games.

So starting with some simple ideas I started out to solve these problems I had. I started with a pen and paper and started drawing the site I wanted to use. I sketched out my ideas over a few weeks and showed it to my friends. After getting a good response to my drawings I spent mostly every second of my spare time over the next 4 months building the initial launch of Cheerful Ghost. I started with a few design goals but one was that the site HAD to work the same on phones, tablets and desktops. I hate using sites that suck on phones and tablets. I opened up the site for 2 week beta period and after that on January 28th I formally launched http://cheerfulghost.com.

Thinking back on what I launched with I am kind of embarrassed as the site you see now is much much better. Some say that if you don't launch a product a bit embarrassed you are launching too late. If you can imagine one thing that sucked at launch was that you couldn't see the current post stream! You had to click around twice to see peoples latest posts. After fixing that mistake I also added some new features like auto-magic adding of PSN & Steam games, a ton more post embeds, post titles, an entire visual site redesign and more.

As I look forward to the next year I have a bunch of stuff I want to do but my ultimate goal is to grow the Cheerful Ghost community. I want to thank everyone for being part of one of the most awesome parts of my life. Deciding to build Cheerful Ghost was a good idea and spending the time to make it what it is now has been totally worth it!

BR Supporter wrote on 01/29/2013 at 02:41am

WoooHoo! Congratulations Jon, on such a fine site. Just so you know, I have it set as my homepage on my phone :)

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/29/2013 at 02:44am

Thanks @BR I am glad it works out in that way. I also have CG as a little icon on my phone home screen too :D

SignalWarden wrote on 01/29/2013 at 03:02am

You did a good job and I'm glad to be here. If you need any help with it moving forward don't hesitate to ask.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/29/2013 at 03:32am

Glad to have been a part of it. Thanks for bringing us together.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 01/29/2013 at 05:08am

I'm really impressed how far the site has come in just one year. It's been a fun year, and it'll only get better!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/29/2013 at 04:32pm

Thanks guys, it has been fun hanging out with you all.

@SignalWarden, ill email you about it. Love to hear your ideas.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/30/2013 at 01:35am

As an aside, this trophy is being retired today:

http://cheerfulghost.com/trophies/59/awarded

:D

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Community Interview with WhiteboySlim

As I continue the series of Cheerful Ghost Community Interviews the next person up is @WhiteboySlim. I really dug this interview as we both have a similar history of games we grew up playing. I want to thank @WhiteboySlim for doing the interview!

jdodson: Are you interested in any of the next gen consoles? Wii U, PS4, NextBox or the Steambox?

WhiteboySlim: I’m interested to see what they all will offer to be honest. I haven’t had any hands-on time with the Wii U, but I would like to see it in action to see if it’s any good. I’m also very interested in the Steambox. Valve has done some really cool stuff with Steam, and I can’t wait to see what they will bring to consoles.... Read All

Timogorgon Member wrote on 01/29/2013 at 05:30am

It was really fun doing the interview!

Also, when I say "this comic comes to mind" that was suppose to be a link to this: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/8/26. My bad. :)

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 01/29/2013 at 05:59am

Fun interview!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/29/2013 at 04:33pm

@WhiteboySlim, I added the comic link to the interview.

JaBo wrote on 01/30/2013 at 12:17am

You never played FF8 did you? It's more under appreciated than 9 imo. 8 is among my favs for the FF series.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 01/30/2013 at 07:47pm

Never got around to 8. I might look into getting it used for the PSOne since I can play those on my PS3. :)

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/31/2013 at 01:27am

Yeah, can play PS1 games but not PS2. Uhhh, sure ok. Wondering what the PS4 will be compatable with?

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 01/25/2014 at 03:37am

I agree with you, mostly, regarding the newer generations of Final Fantasy. I, too, loved IX. VIII is my all-time most favorite, and is the one that was introduced to me (by Travis) and I totally fell in love with it and Rhinoa. Although a lot of people seem to hate on X-2, I loved that one as well. After that, the series went downhill for me. XI was difficult as I'm more of a solo gamer and that game pretty much sucks for solo gaming. I was lucky enough to find someone who helped me through it a bit.

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Need an Invite?

Seems like Valve is giving out a ton of DoTA 2 invites and I have 5 to give away for anyone that wants them. Just ask in the comments and I will hook you up!

Antonio_Morales wrote on 01/29/2013 at 02:08am

I need one if you don't mind steam Id is amorales2005

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/29/2013 at 02:31am

Sent!

BR Supporter wrote on 01/29/2013 at 02:43am

I also have plenty to give away.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/29/2013 at 03:38am

If you run out, I got 5!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/29/2013 at 03:58am

Nice, we should keep people playing :D

JaBo wrote on 01/30/2013 at 12:31am

This game is my obsession...I also have a bunch of invites.

JaBo wrote on 10/10/2013 at 06:06pm

Funny...8 months ago this game was my obsession....today, even more so lol. I played 6 games between Tuesday/Wednesday night and I just want to go home now and play allllll day.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/10/2013 at 06:08pm

You should post some basic strats for this one, personally I like DoTA 2 but I don't know the basics very well.

JaBo wrote on 10/10/2013 at 06:34pm

Yeah, I can do that. I tried getting Tim into it...but unfortunately the game we played he got steam rolled and it understandably burnt him. I've always been into competitive PVP style games though. From FPS, to MMO, to RTS, and MOBA (Multiplayer online battle arena).

This game is definitely not good to new players, but everyone starts somewhere/sometime. I actually started playing dota2 by myself (I had played dota 1 quite a bit) and frankly, it's rare to ever see another player again. That maybe adds to the bashing you may get because players are so anonymous, but it also made me feel comfortable learning and being a noob too. I would give a disclaimer that I'm pretty new. I just took any hateful comments and shrugged them off, I didn't care, I told them I'm learning and often times if you are playing by yourself new, the other players are either new too or on re-rolled smurf accounts. Either way, no one will seriously hold it against you and you won't see those players again. It gave me a blanket of not caring what they thought of me.

Now when you group up, you get equalized a bit in the matchmaking. I've played with a new guy and we got matched against new guys that I then just stomped...and it was nice for him to be able to learn w/o the pressure of needing him to make good plays lol. But other times we've been pushed up closer to my skill range and then he gets creamed and as a team we get creamed because he "fed" the enemy and they got powerful.

Bots and solo que are a pretty decent way to learn. There's a tutorial now too, but I haven't gone through it. There's also tons of websites dedicated to giving useful info. Another super useful thing now is being able to load a hero build. So I use these all the time when I play heroes I don't have my own strategies with, you just open the menu and look at some popular builds (skill and item builds) and then as you level it'll highlight the skill you should learn next (and they often put in some text to give you tips on using those abilities) and same with items. They'll be prioritized as starting equipment, core items, situational items. That's real handy to save time trying to read everything and pick the best option while also trying to play the game.

The most important thing to learn is to not die. Play conservative if you have to, but dying is the worst. It obviously happens, but each death gives the opponent heroes more xp and more gold to increase their advantage over you and your allies.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/11/2013 at 02:16am

I think DoTA 2 is easier to get into now. WhiteboySlim and I played it a few times and adding the bots in helped. Because of the community I am not really interested in playing online with anyone other than friends. I now this means I might not be any good, but i'd prefer to have fun than get annihilated by a-holes verbally.

That said, League has done some nice stuff to address this. I kind of hope DoTA 2 heads that direction, it would be pretty nice.

JaBo wrote on 10/11/2013 at 03:39pm

Well...I report players for being A-holes and so do other people. Then a week later I get a notification that they've taken action against one or more players I reported for bad conduct.

Also, to add to the whole "anonymous" thing. I go to dotabuff.com to see better stats and I played a game last night and I was checking stats on the site today. Not everyone's name shows up on this 3rd party website because you have to enable it, but some of my opponents had it enabled. With someone's name/profile I can click on them and and it will show me their stats but also show me how many games I've ever played with this person.

And this is how I can say you rarely see the same person twice. Only twice so far have I seen more than 1 match with someone (I haven't clicked on everyone I've played with obviously). This guy, I played 2 matches with, one last night, other one 8 months ago lol.

JaBo wrote on 10/11/2013 at 04:02pm

I just went back 51 games played, which put me to August 28. I clicked on everyone that wasn't private profile and blocking 3rd party apps. Probably average of 3 people to look at each game. That's 153 profiles I checked. There was 5 people I've played 2 games with. Everyone else, only 1. And FYI, my total matches played is 712. So, it's not like in some games where you may have a reputation and have like a persona or presence in the game....you really are 1 little drop of water in a huge pool.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/12/2013 at 12:04am

Huh, thats really good to know. Ill check it out a bit more, interesting someone made an app to do that.

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Geek Love: A New Geek Reality Web Series

Interesting new web series from IGN called Geek Love. The featured episode above covers Brittany as she takes part in "Sci-Fi Speed Dating" a new Comic Con staple. The show is interesting because it reminds me of some reality TV shows and doesn't wallow in being cynical or douchey.

The aforementioned episode features Brittany a well adjusted teacher trying to find love with someone who shares a similar love for gaming, movies and comic books.

I kind of am not entirely certain of the format or concept, but appreciate it being genuine. Seriously wondering your thoughts about Geek Love so please sound off in the comments!

ep 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ5iwGApwLM
ep 2:... Read All

Dat Firehose: Gun Commando, SC2 Preview & More

Ripstone recently released Gun Commando a retro flavored shooter for the Playstation Mobile Platform. Video featured above is seriously channeling some awesome Doom energy!

Blizzard recently dropped a really interesting preview of whats coming in Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm. The post focuses a bit on multiplayer, the story and Zerg additions.

http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/heart-of-the-swarm-preview/

GoG recently released Neverwinter Nights 2 the complete pack. Obsidians take on this BioWare property currently has a 4.5 out 5 star rating on GoG.

http://www.gog.com/gamecard/neverwinter_nights_2_complete

You can now download some really interesting ringtones for your... Read All

Magical Game Time Vol. 1

"Download the entire collection of Magical Game Time comics in one massive 139 page PDF for whatever you’re willing to pay! This PDF also includes unfinished comics, sketches, character drawings and pretty much every video game related comic that I’ve done to date."

I really appreciate the art of Zac Gorman because it really captures how I felt as a kid playing video games. His un-cynical take on that era of my life is really quite beautiful at times and is fairly unique in gaming culture.

Recently he released Magical Game Time Vol. 1 which is a collection of all the art on his site. The PDF starts at $1 so there is little reason not to pick it up!

... Read All

Aliens: Colonial Marines trailer is just bad.

I loved the Aliens games back in the day, and I love Gearbox Software, so the pairing of the two leaves me really interested in this game. Even this terrible trailer can't change my mind.

The voice-over is so cheesy. It's like an 80's Army B-Movie. Mikey Neumann from Gearbox, the head writer of Colonial Marines (and the voice of Scooter... CATCH A RIIIIIIDE!) felt the need to publicly disown the dialogue.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/01/24/new-aliens-colonial-marines-trailer-heavy-on-the-colon/

But it's ok. A fan fix for the trailer was released. https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=H20QEkP-UOk

Evoland teaches you a history lesson

A game currently on Steam Greenlight is a trip through time. Starting with the monochrome pixelation of Game Boy games and moving into modern 3D, Evoland takes the player through the history of Zelda-style adventure games and Final Fantasy-style JRPGs. The video doesn't show nearly enough, but it would seem the developers really understand each era the game represents, and remember them as fondly as we do.

To vote for this blast of nostalgia on Steam Greenlight: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=122301377

Live Stream! Tonight!

Hey guys.

Me and some of my goofball friends will be live streaming some Binding of Isaac tonight at 9PM pacific. Come join us!

http://www.twitch.tv/watchoutforfireballs

StarCrafts Episode 22: Phoenix Down

Wanted to share the next rad video from Carbot Animations. This one is fun because I just played a few matches and totally owned the Air with the Corruptor. Takes a bit to get out but once you have a few its GG for most other air units.

http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/unit/corruptor

Make sure you checkout my recent interview with Carbot Animations Jon Burton:

http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/905