Is there such a thing as too much trivia?

[MidwayCJ]

I don't really have anything better to do all day since I'm disabled, and there's a lot of trivia for certain games that I know but a part of me wonders if it's worth posting a good chunk of it.

I just think 'Does anyone really care about this weird obscure thing or is it just me'. I don't want to flood a game with a bunch of stuff no one is gonna care about. Maybe I'm being paranoid.

I try not to submit too much trivia at a time, but I mean in general.

[gamemaster1991]

Hi there.

I'm not sure if you've looked at the site really hard, but there are some trivea submissions on here that are, for a lack of a better word, weak. The site is always looking for new facts, easter eggs, popular fan thorys (the last one I don't really get), and just things that make you go "Huh, I didn't know that."

I've put a few things on here myself that I have thought "Gezz, Why did I put that on?", and I'm pretty sure that the top percent have done it once or twice. I'm just going to say send in all you want, but it might be a good idea to do so much at a time just so you don't get mixed up of what you have and haven't submitted already (it's what I do).

Other than that, submit away. Find random trivia, some Behind The Scenes interviews with the developers, or whatever. If it is good, they will put it on the site. If not, they will tell you why not. "You'll never know if you don't try." Right?

[MidwayCJ]

Well I was just curious because I've sent some stuff I thought might have been uninteresting/dumb to everyone but me (probably everything I submitted to TF2 other than the Spy being based off a glitch). I haven't had a trivia rejected yet, so I wasn't sure if they did that if it wasn't good enough.

Also I feel bad submitting a lot at once, I don't want to inundate them with submissions, I know they get a lot.

I never noticed any 'weak' trivia either, maybe I just like trivia too much, haha.

[Psychospacecow]

Eh man, its called trivia for a reason. Its not meant to have much of a point. You're doing fine.
If it meets the guidelines, then you're in the clear honestly. Everything I submit, I find interesting at the time.

Unfortunately, that includes nights where I can't sleep, so I end up trying stupid stuff like "Bulma is featured in most Dragon Ball Z games as a menu character" or stuff like that. Just ask Dazz.

[Dazz]

As long as you aren't offended by rejection, then we're happy to take any submissions you have :)

[MidwayCJ]

Eh man, its called trivia for a reason. Its not meant to have much of a point. You're doing fine.
If it meets the guidelines, then you're in the clear honestly. Everything I submit, I find interesting at the time.

Unfortunately, that includes nights where I can't sleep, so I end up trying stupid stuff like "Bulma is featured in most Dragon Ball Z games as a menu character" or stuff like that. Just ask Dazz.

Ahh. Yeah I do that too but I pretty much think anything and everything is interesting about certain games. Guess I'm just being too self conscious.

As long as you aren't offended by rejection, then we're happy to take any submissions you have :)

Nah, I'm not offended by rejection. I'll still worry about submitting too much at once though, heh.

[gamemaster1991]

As long as you aren't offended by rejection, then we're happy to take any submissions you have :)

Nah, I'm not offended by rejection. I'll still worry about submitting too much at once though, heh.

You can always take my advice and do 5-8 submissions. Really, I don't think they care how many you put out there at once (if they did I think they would have stoped me a few months back). Just make sure you know what you have and haven't done already and make sure that it's not on the site already (the last one I've done so many times. Just ask Petie.) I'm really wondering what you know that I don't know.

[MidwayCJ]

As long as you aren't offended by rejection, then we're happy to take any submissions you have :)

Nah, I'm not offended by rejection. I'll still worry about submitting too much at once though, heh.

You can always take my advice and do 5-8 submissions. Really, I don't think they care how many you put out there at once (if they did I think they would have stoped me a few months back). Just make sure you know what you have and haven't done already and make sure that it's not on the site already (the last one I've done so many times. Just ask Petie.) I'm really wondering what you know that I don't know.

Yeah that's what I'm doing. I'm being really careful and keeping track only doing a few at a time. I get so excited though and need to stop myself from submitting too much at a time haha. I like to see what gets submitted or rejected before submitting more. I do notice you have facts about games everywhere.

If you mean what I know that you don't as in trivia wise, I'm not sure if you don't know it or haven't submitted it? Since again, you seem to be everywhere.

I could probably add at least 20 more facts about TF2 (though who knows how much would get accepted) because it's one of my favorite games, and I know too much about it. Especially since I used to use SFM and Gmod a LOT and was always rooting around the files and sticking my nose into what other people rooted around. Then there's some random Ecco the Dolphin stuff that literally no one cares about but me probably since I seem to be the only person in existence who liked those games. Then there's some stuff in some of the Sonic and Banjo games that just hasn't been added yet but isn't that obscure knowledge, at least to me.

I have been super careful checking first for the facts tha tare already there.

[gamemaster1991]

Yeah that's what I'm doing. I'm being really careful and keeping track only doing a few at a time. I get so excited though and need to stop myself from submitting too much at a time haha. I like to see what gets submitted or rejected before submitting more. I do notice you have facts about games everywhere.

If you mean what I know that you don't as in trivia wise, I'm not sure if you don't know it or haven't submitted it? Since again, you seem to be everywhere.

I could probably add at least 20 more facts about TF2 (though who knows how much would get accepted) because it's one of my favorite games, and I know too much about it. Especially since I used to use SFM and Gmod a LOT and was always rooting around the files and sticking my nose into what other people rooted around. Then there's some random Ecco the Dolphin stuff that literally no one cares about but me probably since I seem to be the only person in existence who liked those games. Then there's some stuff in some of the Sonic and Banjo games that just hasn't been added yet but isn't that obscure knowledge, at least to me.

I am everywhere only because I add things that nobody seems to know. I like to research games all the time and I always find interesting things (to me) about these things. I have found things like the only banned game in America and to a wedding proposal in a game boy game and I always think that these things are interesting things to know. Not everything is going to be really interesting (like knowing Sam from Sam and Max is an Irish Wolf Hound) but it's still some trivia that I could throw at someone who knows these games.

Everyone does not know everything, so I really like see what other people know. Even if it is just that Space Quest once had the option to have a female main character. (<-you can have that one. I don't thing anyone took it yet. If they did there's like two other pieces of trivia in the video.)

[MidwayCJ]

Yeah that's what I'm doing. I'm being really careful and keeping track only doing a few at a time. I get so excited though and need to stop myself from submitting too much at a time haha. I like to see what gets submitted or rejected before submitting more. I do notice you have facts about games everywhere.

If you mean what I know that you don't as in trivia wise, I'm not sure if you don't know it or haven't submitted it? Since again, you seem to be everywhere.

I could probably add at least 20 more facts about TF2 (though who knows how much would get accepted) because it's one of my favorite games, and I know too much about it. Especially since I used to use SFM and Gmod a LOT and was always rooting around the files and sticking my nose into what other people rooted around. Then there's some random Ecco the Dolphin stuff that literally no one cares about but me probably since I seem to be the only person in existence who liked those games. Then there's some stuff in some of the Sonic and Banjo games that just hasn't been added yet but isn't that obscure knowledge, at least to me.

I am everywhere only because I add things that nobody seems to know. I like to research games all the time and I always find interesting things (to me) about these things. I have found things like the only banned game in America and to a wedding proposal in a game boy game and I always think that these things are interesting things to know. Not everything is going to be really interesting (like knowing Sam from Sam and Max is an Irish Wolf Hound) but it's still some trivia that I could throw at someone who knows these games.

Everyone does not know everything, so I really like see what other people know. Even if it is just that Space Quest once had the option to have a female main character. (<-you can have that one. I don't thing anyone took it yet. If they did there's like two other pieces of trivia in the video.)

Ahh I never knew those things. There was a game banned in America? That is interesting, same thing about Sam being an Irish Wolf Hound. I love trivia and I'm disabled so I don't have much else to do. I want to do videos but when days I don't feel up to writing scripts or recording I like to mess around and post facts on those days sometimes. I don't have all the stuff I need to really do what I want yet either since I only got approved and don't have a monthly check yet, but I digress.

Some of the examples I guess I would give to stuff I've submitted are Miss Pauling being seen in Meet the Medic, things some of Scout's voice lines reference, unused voice lines from Meet the Sandwich, things like the Medic and Heavy being the only two classes that don't have class specific domination lines, though I need a proper source for that. Then there's stuff that to me used to be common knowledge to me but seemed to be forgotten to the sand of time. Like the fact Knuckles was originally intended to have a Jamacian accent.

You know it's weird I just saw that episode and didn't even think to come on here and add it. I might just go ahead and try to add those but won't mind if you add them first. Feel free to add anything in that mess I posted that catches your interest too, haha.

[Spherix*]

Nope, no such thing as too much trivia. Different people are going to find different things interesting. As long as it's not super obvious (Mario is the main character of the Mario series!), follows the site guidelines, and is well-written, we'll be glad to have it. I know I'm always glad to see things in the submission queue that I can just hit 'accept' on, and don't have to reject or rewrite the whole thing.

Some of the things I've seen a lot of as I've been reviewing trivia:

• Make sure the link you provide as a source actually is a source for the trivia! I've seen some trivia where there's a source provided, but it's just a page about the game, and doesn't mention the information in the trivia at all!
  
• When using a video as a source, if it covers more than just the trivia item, and it's more than a couple minutes long, please provide a timestamp for what part of the video contains the trivia item. While the whole video may be interesting, and worth watching under other circumstances, when trying to verify submissions we want to check their accuracy as quickly as possible so they can be posted for everyone to enjoy.
  
• The trivia should not be phrased as if it is speaking to the reader. In short, don't use 'you'. I know it can be difficult to phrase some things in a way that doesn't sound awkward, and the passive voice is discouraged in English, but just substituting 'the player' in for 'you' often works.
• While our audience is primarily gamers, that's pretty much everyone these days. Try to include enough detail so that the trivia is comprehensible without requiring a lot of familiarity with the game. A lot of things can be understood just from context, and you can safely assume basic gaming knowledge, but if the general meaning of some game-specific term or mechanic can't be determined from the name of it, provide a basic description of it.
  
• Along the same lines, make sure to include enough details to show why a particular fact is interesting. Anything can be normal in a particular piece of fiction, so if something stands out as being unusual, say so. Provide something to contrast it with.
  
• If a particular piece of trivia mentions some other game, series, or company, make it a link! It makes the site feel more interconnected, and encourages people to stay awhile and look around. They may end up finding something interesting that they wouldn't have gone looking for otherwise. We even have a special intra-site link tag: "urli". It basically includes "www.vgfacts.com" at the beginning of the link, so you only need to specify the remainder of the url.

All of this boils down to making the site look professional, and making it useful to other people, those who don't know as much about video games as we do. If the point was to just swap trivia amongst ourselves, we'd only need the forum. I don't think there's any other site quite like VGFacts, in that we're trying to create a structured, searchable repository of gaming trivia. Lots of sites have gaming trivia, but it's generally not the main focus, and is tacked on in a way that isn't easy to search or explore. For example, Wikipedia actively discourages trivia sections on pages, because they don't want pages to be a loose collection of facts. Wikis just aren't suited for it, because of the underlying structure of their database. But that's what VGFacts excels at, what its database is designed for. Let's make the most of it.

And just so you know, you're not alone: I care about Ecco the Dolphin, and would love to see more trivia about it.

[gamemaster1991]

^A little extra advice. Going around the site and looking at the sources, you'll find that some of us use wikis for a few of the submissions. The crew don't really like this, as they prefer real sources over fan made wikis, but they will accept them some of the time. I'll warn you that I had to rewrite one of mine over again due to Dazz deleting one (actuality two-four, but I got one of them back after finding an interview with the trivia stated) that used the Kingdom Hearts Wiki.

Most of the time, wikipedia and fan made wikis will have links to real sources that are much better than using these sites out right. Try to always find a real source if you can.