Twingalaxies down

[RevJ]

Thanks Unclechicken!

Luckily I had a TG password not like anything used elsewhere.

I'm wondering though if it is possible to even log into the current TG website?

[Barra]

Originally Posted by RevJ

Thanks Unclechicken!

Luckily I had a TG password not like anything used elsewhere.

I'm wondering though if it is possible to even log into the current TG website?

Not as of yet, Id say it wont be possible until they start accepting submissions again. (mid-april?)

[Dudebro]

Originally Posted by unclechicken

I've been doing some digging around on hacking forums

I'm surprised no one asked this yet, why?

[Jack Bando]

Q: What does it cost to submit a score to Twin Galaxies?
A: Players may purchase Twin Galaxies score submissions based on three tiers:
- $25.00 – One (1) score submission or up to Two (2) hours of recording
....... - $60.00 – Three (3) score submission or up to Six (6) hours of recording
....... - $75.00 – Five (5) score submission or up to Twelve (12) hours of recording




RIP

[Dudebro]

What a scam.

[d3scride]

Originally Posted by Jack Bando

Q: What does it cost to submit a score to Twin Galaxies?
A: Players may purchase Twin Galaxies score submissions based on three tiers:
- $25.00 – One (1) score submission or up to Two (2) hours of recording
....... - $60.00 – Three (3) score submission or up to Six (6) hours of recording
....... - $75.00 – Five (5) score submission or up to Twelve (12) hours of recording




RIP

Sadly QFT. It's even more expensive then they originally stated and even then it was way too much.

[Tails]

should pathe the way for RU.

[D.B. Cooper]

Originally Posted by Jack Bando

Q: What does it cost to submit a score to Twin Galaxies?
A: Players may purchase Twin Galaxies score submissions based on three tiers:
- $25.00 – One (1) score submission or up to Two (2) hours of recording
- $60.00 – Three (3) score submission or up to Six (6) hours of recording
- $75.00 – Five (5) score submission or up to Twelve (12) hours of recording




RIP

I wonder how much they'll charge that dude who played Qbert for 60+ hours? Oh ya, he's one of thier buddies so they probably won't make him pay at all.

It will be interesting to see how many people will actually pay to have a score put up on a scoreboard. I can't imagine anyone in their right mind would ever submit a score for a console game at these prices, especially the newer ones that already have their own scoreboards. I know this cuts me out of the picture. I had considered doing a record run on Timber but I was planning on playing over 12 hours and there is no way I'm paying $75+ just to say I have an arcade record when I can do it in MAME and submit to MARP or here. Add in the fact that this Cat person is now an employee and I don't see myself giving a crap about TG ever again. My prediction is that in a few months to a year, they'll figure out this isn't working and try and change again but it will be too late as most of their customers will have moved on to other things.

[Seahawk]

I hate the be the one naysayer this time around, but I don't really see the issue.

Say you have a 12 hour video. At the highest tier you're basically paying someone $6.25 an hour just to watch your video and do nothing else.
That's less than USA minimum wage ($7.25 currently).

I mean, sure, having to pay for it does bring up that whole "pay for high score" feeling, but I don't see how you could run such a big organization for free. I can't imagine how they managed it before.

If I'm missing an important element in this, please enlighten me.

[D.B. Cooper]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

I hate the be the one naysayer this time around, but I don't really see the issue.

Say you have a 12 hour video. At the highest tier you're basically paying someone $6.25 an hour just to watch your video and do nothing else.
That's less than USA minimum wage ($7.25 currently).

I mean, sure, having to pay for it does bring up that whole "pay for high score" feeling, but I don't see how you could run such a big organization for free. I can't imagine how they managed it before.

If I'm missing an important element in this, please enlighten me.

They managed it before the same as RU. Volunteers and donations.

Are you going to be willing to pay these prices to have your name on the TG website? You can justify them charging these prices all you want but I think the majority opinion is there's no market for it. There are many alternatives to TG that don't charge anything so why pay for something you can get for free? Sure, there will be a few that will be duped into thinking that when you have the high score at TG it's a "World Record" and will pay for that honor but will it be enough to keep them in business? I don't think so but it's just my opinion. Only time will tell.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by D.B. Cooper

They managed it before the same as RU. Volunteers and donations.

That's not a fair comparison at all. RU has a very small number of users. TG handles submissions from all over the world, with recordings that can be days long. There are logistics issues (receive/send out shipments), manufacturing (awards/memorabilia/what not), as well as organizing events. This is far far beyond the scope of a volunteer force. Without some sort of volunteer certification you run the risk of cheats and favoritism like before.

Maybe it's just me, but I certainly would not want to sit for days on end watching joystick movements, button presses, and game video feed watching for cheats, at no charge.

Originally Posted by D.B. Cooper

Are you going to be willing to pay these prices to have your name on the TG website?

No, not ever.

Fair disclosure, I am pretty biased against the idea of world records in general. All it comes down to is an entry in a database and maybe a sheet of paper with a congratulatory note.

Originally Posted by D.B. Cooper

You can justify them charging these prices all you want but I think the majority opinion is there's no market for it. There are many alternatives to TG that don't charge anything so why pay for something you can get for free? Sure, there will be a few that will be duped into thinking that when you have the high score at TG it's a "World Record" and will pay for that honor but will it be enough to keep them in business? I don't think so but it's just my opinion. Only time will tell.

I'm not trying to justify them. I have no interest in their organization or world records, and if they disappeared for good I would not care at all.

I guess I just don't get the outrage over them charging for what is a very luxury concept in the first place: proving/saying you have the high score.

I do agree that there might not be any market at all for such a service if you have to pay for it. Time will tell indeed.

[Permafrostrick]

DB, why I don't like the fees also...live performances at sanctioned venues or events like Richie's arcade do not have any fee for submission.

TG actually wants to encourage live performance at these venues or events so these fees definitely will give those close to venues a big advantage for submission on games at these venues. It also discourages using mame since if at a sanctioned venue you likely are playing on a real machine, not a mame one.

I agree if they are unwilling to partner up with sites like RU, aurcade, MARP, etc. then most playing mame at least likely are to submit to these other scoreboards.

[D.B. Cooper]

@ Seahawk. Not sure if the comment was even directed at me but I'm not outraged by this at all. Just stating my opinion that I don't think it's going to work. The fact is I'm having a lot more fun being part of RU than I ever did playing at TG and even if the service was free, I was never again going to record my play on VHS (or DVD) and send in the mail. Might have submitted some more scores in MAME and some arcade scores but really no big deal. For me, gaming is all about having fun and enjoying myself and I have no ambitions to get famous or have my picture on a trading card.

I wasn't comparing TG to RU. I was just stating a fact. Before the buyout, TG was entirely run by volunteers.

[Kong]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

There are logistics issues (receive/send out shipments)

Shipping costs would be paid by the player either way. I think they should charge a small flat handling fee for physical media - VHS, DVD etc. They should have a free digital submission option.

manufacturing (awards/memorabilia/what not)

Charging a little for these would be reasonable but I think giving them away for free would be smart advertising. The free advertising you get when someone hangs it in their office would totally pay for the low cost of printing a high quality certificate.

as well as organizing events.

Events should pay for themselves. If you do the event right it should be profitable, not a money loss.

Without some sort of volunteer certification you run the risk of cheats and favoritism like before.

Charging the player does nothing to fix this problem.

Maybe it's just me, but I certainly would not want to sit for days on end watching joystick movements, button presses, and game video feed watching for cheats, at no charge.

I am guessing $5/hr wouldn't do much to change your mind.

Options
1. Charge the player. New TG style.
2. Volunteer refs. RU style.
3. P2P refs. MARP style.
4. A combination of 2 & 3.
5. Generate money from other sources - donations, advertisement, events, merchandiser, etc. - use that money to hire refs.

Option 1 is by far the worst choice.

I think a combination of 4 and 5 would be best. Generate some cash from external sources, use that to hire dedicated refs, then release all files to the public so anyone can double check and make sure no mistakes were made.

Originally Posted by D.B. Cooper

My prediction is that in a few months to a year, they'll figure out this isn't working and try and change again but it will be too late as most of their customers will have moved on to other things.

I agree. I predict 6-18 months.

---------- Post added at 06:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:00 PM ----------

Any idea how many submissions a month they were receiving prior to the buy out last year?

[Dudebro]

Seems like this is an obvious attempt to cash in, not cover their costs. But then again they are blowing money on giving awards/trading cards and dinners to people who aren't even world record holders.

[TodayIsForgotten]

When did TG start charging to record? What a joke. That site blows anyhow, guys. Arcadia scores blow every single one of those scores on TG out of the water.

Hell, even i havea world record in Exerion with like 1.2m and with 2 lives since my emulator would minus a life out. But, apparently some guy has 3m in that game. I'll say it again, TG is a joke. The only scores that will raise eyebrows are a few old games in the pacman era. Other than that, someone sets a world record with a score that can be beaten on the first stage? I understand this site has WR for crappy scores, too, but people seem to gloat about that on TG.

I dont know if things have changed but wasn't TG only open to the USA? That's pretty lame for a world record/score holding site.

You can hate my post or me for saying it, but i and many other people who are more competitive with scoring than me will reiterate these thoughts.

[Fellowroot]

Okay so I set high scores on video games and I just can't help it.

I just recently got a new world record on Gulf Storm MAME which beats the highest score known for this game. So will someone sponsor me and help pay for the cost of getting it verified. All I know is that I will be setting plenty of world records in the future and I simply won't be able to afford the costs associated with sending in my scores.

Thanks.

[Slime Slayer]

Originally Posted by Fellowroot

Okay so I set high scores on video games and I just can't help it.

I just recently got a new world record on Gulf Storm MAME which beats the highest score known for this game. So will someone sponsor me and help pay for the cost of getting it verified. All I know is that I will be setting plenty of world records in the future and I simply won't be able to afford the costs associated with sending in my scores.

Thanks.

Is this a joke? Please tell me this is a joke.

[Fellowroot]

Originally Posted by stevencassidy13

Is this a joke? Please tell me this is a joke.

No, I'm sorry, but this is NOT a joke.

I am a professional video game player and will be setting tons of WRs in the future. I can't afford to spend 100's and 100's of dollars on submitting my scores.

If I have to I will eventually make some youtube videos asking for people to sponsor me. I have the skill, not necessarily the money.

[Barra]

No one would sponsor anyone for breaking world records.

[Slime Slayer]

Originally Posted by Fellowroot

No, I'm sorry, but this is NOT a joke.

I am a professional video game player and will be setting tons of WRs in the future. I can't afford to spend 100's and 100's of dollars on submitting my scores.

If I have to I will eventually make some youtube videos asking for people to sponsor me. I have the skill, not necessarily the money.

Forget about TG, scores you set here are just as, if not more valid than the ones set on TG, they are not "official" Guiness Book of World Records scores, but the numbers don't lie. If you are looking for financial gain then you might want to look into playing Starcraft.

[Dudebro]

Originally Posted by Fellowroot

No, I'm sorry, but this is NOT a joke.

Maybe not a joke but it's sarcasm right? To be clear RU does not allow people to beg for money on the site. Normally a post like that would be deleted but since it doesn't seem sincere we'll leave it up for laughs.

[NESKING2]

Originally Posted by Barra

No one would sponsor anyone for breaking world records.

Stupid close minded statement

---------- Post added at 11:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:52 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Fellowroot

No, I'm sorry, but this is NOT a joke.

I am a professional video game player and will be setting tons of WRs in the future. I can't afford to spend 100's and 100's of dollars on submitting my scores.

If I have to I will eventually make some youtube videos asking for people to sponsor me. I have the skill, not necessarily the money.

That is gonna have to be part of the route we all go for sure and get people THAT actually know marketing not the ones who think it

[Dudebro]

Who is gonna sponsor someone to play retro games? If you can't afford TGs prices you're out of luck. You're better off submitting your scores on better sites, like RU.

[TodayIsForgotten]

Originally Posted by NESKING2

Stupid close minded statement

---------- Post added at 11:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:52 AM ----------



That is gonna have to be part of the route we all go for sure and get people THAT actually know marketing not the ones who think it

The chances that anyone gets sponsored playing retro games is very small. Barra is pretty spot-on. You may find someone and i mean one(1).

Look at any of the sites that have retro leagues. There are no more than 30 people, 50 if you want to include MARP playing retro titles for competition. If there were thousands of players, yes then sponsors would be more prevalent.

Thing is no one cares about retro titles or WR anymore. They are too busy playing Call of Duty or Guitar Hero. More specifically, money is in FPS ( and fighting, RTS) not retro.