Universal Videogame List - www.uvlist.net

Just to give you some examples of typical problematic tags

Tag:
- 3,5disk, 5,25disk, dvd, cdrom
Much too broad. You could tag thousands of games with this. Whole systems could get this tag (Amiga or Atari ST). If a console like the PCEngine or Jaguar features a CD-ROM update then it should get a new platform as it is now.

- doublettes like "babe" and "babes"
Why have two tags with the same meaning? One should be enough. The many tags for the ultima crpg series is also not something i like. One "ultima" tag should be enough.

- bomb
Well, this is an example of tags that makes no sense. The only game with the tag "bomb" is a version of the game "Commando". Why this game becomes the tag "bomb" is beyond my understanding. Because you are able to throw grenades, besides shooting stuff? Tags like bomb say nothing. You can't correctly group them. And just because a bomb may be a game element doesn't qualify to give it an own tag. There are a couple of tags of this kind. So... giving a soccer game the tag "ball" would theoretically be correct, but doesn't make sense in the big scheme.

- bttf (short for back to the future)
The short version bttf is not well known. In this case I would say to call the tag "backtothefuture". Shortcuts like dnd are well known and can be left as is.

- contradictive tags
There are games that have the tag "text" and the tag "textplusgraphical". Now... either it is a text-only game (so NO graphics... thats what the tag should be for) or it has graphics. So this is one case that must be defined. What is a text-adventure? Pure text (Zork 1, 2, 3) or with some graphical illustrations (Zork Zero)? Where begin graphic games? King's Quest 1 would be a 'graphic adventure' for me, because you actively control your character through the screens, although it still requires text input/commands.

I wanted to reply "fortunately no one used MOUSE" then I saw that it was used, one time.
Perhaps for some platforms apparently useless tags like this have more sense, for example the ZX Spectrum had a (thirty party) mouse. If exists a game that natively used it, should be ok to add this tag.
Amiga Battle Squadron was playable with a joystick or a mouse, as it was quite unique, perhaps should be ok too.
Can't imagine why DOS Eye of the Beholder have the 3.5disk tag... In 1990 those blue disks were quite common.


I had the same doubt about zombie and zombies, which one? I opted for plural but we should a common rule for this.
I've marginally followed Ultima, not sure but to me looks ok.


Ok, this is non-sense, I agree.


My fault. Please don't edit the related tag of an existing group, as it break the link with the related characters, that then have to be reassigned (and other minor problems, like a missing page).
If I would create that tag now I would use the more descriptive "backtothefuture", as I did for many other tags lately.

Anyway, I'm going to setup a "synonyms" system in two ways:
- intercepts "wrong" tags (i.e. you add the tag "bttf" and the "backtothefuture" is really added, so it's impossible to add babe AND babes)
- redirects to the right page (i.e. the address www.uvlist.net/groups/info/bttf becomes www.uvlist.net/groups/info/backtothefuture)


Yes... Who uses actively a tag should build a group and briefly describe it so we know what it should mean, ad if it was used rightly.
BUT PLEASE don't add a group for tags used just two (or less!) times, at least think twice before doing it.

BTW I wish to repeat that tags should still be free (any logged user can add a tag, not just editors), and a single senseless tag simply simply "sinks" in the sea of good tags.

There's also [[tag:xyzzy xyzzy]]. After Googling and checking Wikipedia, apparently this had something to do with a puzzle in [[game:Adventure]], but I have no way of knowing what on the earth it really is for sure.

A bit unrelated, I've tried adding several new tag groups and the current source/type choices seem insufficient, especially in case of type. For one, I've created a few [[tag:directx DirectX]] groups more, but DX is neither series nor theme, it's "technology" (API, to be exact), so it's a bit confusing for people who can see the type in that case. In case of the older DX groups, I don't think it's necessary to distinguish the updates for the DX version (7.0 and 7.1 are exactly the same, 7.1 is just bug fix release and any DX 7.0 game will "work" in 7.1 and vice versa - now that I've said that, I'll "fix" them). Or the [[tag:4X 4X]] tag group I created, it's a sub-type for strategy games, theme and series is definitely a far-fetch in what type it is (I can't think of any good word to describe that "type" for now).

There's also the issue of uppercase letters in tag names, how can I get them there or is that somehow disabled? I've seen plenty of MMORPG tags (for example) with the tag in all uppercase letters, but all the tags I add to games are lowercase no matter how I write them or how they appear in other game entries or how the tag ID was written in the tag group itself.

Edit: Even [[tag:SCUMM SCUMM]] tag group lacks good type choice, it's a game engine of sorts, so it too could be categorized as (software) technology.

There's also potential issue with political correctness with some tags, Firemen tag for example, which should be firefighters. I'm not sure if you people care of this, but it might be worth considering (and personally, I think firefighters just sounds cooler :P).

I've been removing some tags that had no reason to exist, especially those that didn't have a group set, and I'm planning on continuing this cleanup. I'm leaving some alone since they _seem_ to have a reason for being, but I'm not too sure to transform them into a group (e.g. akumajou).

There are some tags I'd like to change, the ones that don't have a group set are the easiest but the ones that already have it are a bit more difficult (though that only requires me to change the tag ID in group editor, yes?).

Here are some of the plans:
* Rename cdrom tag to cd-rom
* Rename bloody to gore
* Rename any food related tags to food

I would've loved to have the 3.5disk tag renamed to 3½disk, but apparently the tag system doesn't allow ½ to be there.

Ok, go on.
About the tags with a group, please don't touch them for now, I've not fully tested it, I'd like to make some internal test.
Can you name some of these tags?

What I could find for now.
* cdrom -> cd-rom
* 3.5disk -> 3½disk (if possible)
* mickey -> mickeymouse
* rtype -> r-type
* xcom -> x-com
* deamcatcheregyptseries -> dreamcatcheregypt (obviously a typo, and "series" in tag name is unnecessary bloat.. even the remaining tag name is too long)

And then there are some tags I'm not sure which to use. Dinosaurs for example, I remember there being something suggested that the singular form should be used, but for some reason I seem to like plural, so changing some singular tag names to plural would be that unless the consensus has been that they _must_ be singular.
Already existing groups
* dinosaurs
* monsters
* transformers (probably shouldn't be touched regardless of the others)
* tinytoon (if transformers is kept, then this should be tinytoons)
Have tag but no group
* dragon
* witch

And there are the ridiculously long tags.
* gametunneladventuregameoftheyear
* gametunnelgameoftheyearaward
* linuxgametomegotm
* homeoftheunderdogstopdogaward -> topdog or hotutopdog
I have no idea what they could be reduced to, perhaps removed would be better unless people will actually start listing all the awards games have won.

Too short tags (IMO)
* ev -> escapevelocity
* oz -> wizardofoz

Remove unnecessary "the" from tags.
* thesimpsons
* theflintstones
* thewitchersaga

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A bit unrelated, tags like ultima1 and ultima7 are a bit questionable in their use. I personally think they should be part of ultima tag and those two removed from use.

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Then there's the multitude of tags that describe everyday objects that appear in games.
For example: walls, fire, wine, etc.

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And then there's the numerous tags for different linux distros. Although it's nice we have info on which distros have native package available for the thing, it's unnecessary bloat I say. If the game is said to be linux game, or to run in POSIX/SUS compatible machines, then all Linux distros are automatically part of that (excluding buggy ones), so their removal should perhaps be one thing to do. POSIX/SUS tag should replace them.

Even more problematic with systems like PC and Amiga which can be quite freely upgraded to all of them or constantly gains new devices (Amiga doesn't anymore, but I've heard of enough industrious users who've installed some recent tech on their Amigas :D). These tags should only be used in cases where the storage media is not blatantly obvious. For example, DOS games usually are on 3½ floppies, later DOS games were on CDs. All PS2 games are on DVDs, and all PSX games are on CDs, all PS3 games are on Blu-ray discs and all Wii games are on.. umm.. whatever they're on.. HD-DVD?

If the graphics have no bearing on how the game is played, then it is text-adventure. If the graphics on the other hand play a part in the game, other than giving a visual aid on what the places or things look like, then it's no longer just text-adventure. textplusgraphics is a bit pointless tag in either case, IMO.

It could be possible, but tags should use "basic" ascii characters as they appear in url too. In all the browsers except IE7 (which broke rules as usual) using ½ the url would be /groups/info/3%BDdisk , where %BD is the url code for ½.
I've just created the group related to 3.5disk tag to 3½disk should be ok.
Additionally, I've added two more "origins" for groups: Hardware and Software.

About the others tags, please wait until I implement synonyms, then I'll be sure on how all this should work.
As I said synonyms will help avoid using various tags with the same meaning, will not update the old one automatically BTW.

About singular and plural tags, I'm still not sure. Being a "theme", would you expect to hear about (i.e.) "vampire movies" or "vampires movies"?
Look this: www.google.com/trends?q=vampire%2C+vampires so people is more used to singular?
Anyway, Transformers is right, as that's the name of the series.


Tags should be as short as possible, but without risking to be confused with something else.
Not easy.

The next later...

As is Tiny Toons (I faintly recall Tiny Toon used internally in the series to refer to some things, but the series itself is in plural form), meaning the current tag name is wrong.

(edit: more of the same...)


Using plural for both words is uncommon, but the case is with single words, in which case you're likely talking of vampires in general rather than a single specific vampire (although in that case you'd usually expect the word to be prepended with 'the'). If the -theme or some other word is appended to the tag name, then singular would be better choice, but as it stands the type is not put there, and so plural is more meaningful. 'Vampire theme' is a bit odd anyways.

Unrelated either of those two, I'm a bit miffed by tags like 'babe'. It holds little meaning and is based a lot on personal preference of the person putting that tag there, as well as which characters in the game are eligible for tagging games with it. Obviously it should be limited to main characters only. Even with such limitation, you could tag SiN with it, even though the only person even remotely eligible for it is the head bitch of SiNTek or wharever the thing was called. A bit like adding boobphysics tag to announce that the womens' boobs' movement is also simulated by the physics engine (such a thing was in BloodRayne at least). Oh well, free tags are free tags >_>

The same for the tag [[gametag:streetofrage streetofrage]] which should be street<b>s</b>ofrage.

For the plural / singular for common names, I think the plural form is often better. I don't really understand why there are two tags [[gametag:ghost ghost]] and [[gametag:ghosts ghosts]].

The adad tag is a bit odd, AD&D is the correct abbreviation and &/'and' are usually shortened to 'n', not 'a' (this is actually the first time I've seen it used for it, as far as I can remember). So adad should be ADnD or just ADD with proper capitalization. It would also make it look more like DnD and DnD3 tags that are closely related to it.

xbeyondthefrontier should be renamed to X-Universe.

jamesbond should probably be deleted as it's unused and a duplicate of 007, or made into synonym of 007 when that stuff works.

About ADAD, it's all my fault, as usual, but I've see that there is people searching for ADAD, so I would keep it until the synonyms are ready.
The same is for jamesbond.

I've just renamed "xbeyondthefrontier" as requested.

About an older post:

Renamed. I've to filter out too short tags.


Not sure about this, "the" is part of the original name.


I don't know Ultima very well, I would never use different tags for the various Tomb Raider episodes. Is this a similar case?
Anyway no groups were made for those sub-tags.


Not really useful, I have to admit. :)


Again, I don't know much about Linux (for me is just some black windows with scrolling server logs I see at work)

They are, but give no useful information on the tag name itself. I'd think it's enough that the group info page has the correct title. The only real good side of leaving them out is that the titles won't all go under T in the tags.. like, I'd expect The Simpsons to be found from S rather than T. That's really the only point I have against them.


Yes. Actually, the only difference (that I know of) is that the first and seventh ultima have numerous re-makes as opposed to the others which seem to have none. Though I think ultima 7 has a number of add-ons (or sequels, I'm not too sure as I've never played the game), too, but they're as much part of ultima 7 as they're part of the whole ultima series.


Zerothis seems to be the one making most if not all of them, so I guess his opinion would perhaps be a bit more significant or helpful in this. I'm quite familiar with Linux myself, on which I based my opinion on, but I've only tried a handful of distros, most of which cater to a bit more advanced users so there might be something that could be done.

Here's an example of the distro-hell: Freeciv. Only one of those tags isn't a distro (SDL) or some other operating system (SGI, Solaris, OS2, and the BSD variants). I'm baffled by this large number of different systems, really. I'm unfamiliar with BSD, but I always thought all of them use the same ports system for software which could be used to combine at least them (and as far as I know, their kernels aren't _that_ different either so BSD by itself would be better). Solaris and the other more "exotic" systems I can actually understand there (except OS2 which is far from Linux/Unix families, closer to Windows O/S). But still, it's too much.

(P.S. Apparently we can't have more than one level of quotation)

Just noticed x86 out there, too. This shouldn't be a tag but part of the hardware field in the regular game info. Though I'm not sure how the hardware field handles multiple values (some games support more than one CPU architecture).

tactrpg might deserve to be deleted. It's enough that there's RPG genre and some other tag to specify that the game has tactical elements, tactical rpg tag is just stating the obvious with half of it and would become partially synonymous with the pure tactical tag.

For the same reason I'd remove all the "sub-groups" of MMOG (luckily there's only MMORPG, no MMORTS[G] or others).

Just a passing thought: I'd suggest using singular when the player _controls_ the said creature or thing or whatever, and plural when the game just features them. Both if both are true.

Edit: In some cases you can find better alternatives for the control part, though, like female protagonist.

I finally noticed a small problem with the size limit for tags: 4x.
No idea what to use for that anymore, and it needs to be renamed because of the limit.

Also, how often is there a reason NOT TO duplicate tags for a game when cloning a game? The most common thing I seem to do when cloning a game for another platform is duplicating the tags for it. So if possible, this should perhaps be automated.

I can only think of the Linux ports of games that have SDL tag which isn't usually true for the other versions of the game.

(Edit: I really should make new threads instead of bloating this one...)

Well, simply because game cloning came before the tags implementation.
I agree , tags should be cloned too.

It might be an idea to prevent creating groups that start with the exclamation mark. Although I'm pretty sure no-one would anyways :)

You can add groups only starting from tags, and you can't add tags with question marks and other symbols inside.
Should be safe...

I'm sorry to contradict myself :-)
More when fixed...

Now the four links in every user page (preferred, completed, playing, owned) are linked to the "special" group about the user marked games.
This way other than the simple games list you can see some images, the platforms usage and the years graph.
(that page content is updated every 4 hours)

Is the most popular choices based on the overall rating of the games like with every other group or solely on the user's own votes in them?

The popularity is not based on votes, just on "page views", and is not related on the user.

I don't understand what are these numbers appearing near Tags reference (for example, [[gameid:11134 Final Fantasy VII]]) :

# !preferred_7718 - cjlee001 - <b>0</b>
# !preferred_7357 - dandyboh - <b>0</b>
# !completed_7357 - dandyboh - <b>0</b>
# finalfantasy - andread - <b>3</b>
# !own_7357 - dandyboh - <b>3</b>
# !own_7718 - cjlee001 - <b>3</b>

It's just some debug info I forgot to remove.
That number is the platform ID related to that tag, it is used for example to draw the platforms graph in the groups page.
it should never be zero, but in the first month I didn't stored that value yet. This causes the [undefined] value you may see sometimes.

I added a tag "[[gametag:band band]]" a few weeks ago, but I noticed that the word "band" is too generic, maybe it should be renamed as "musicband" or something like that.

[[gametag:biohazard biohazard]] and [[gametag:residentevil residentevil]] are the same, Bio Hazard is just the japanese name for Resident Evil, I think that one of these two tags should be deleted.

Yes, musicband is ok. Just re-tag all the "band" games with the new one, and then we can edit the group tag with the new one.


This is about the old "synonims" thread. Just leave it as it is for now, until I fix it.

re: re:

Done. Now you just have to delete the old "band" group.


Right, I forgot about synonyms.