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{{short description|Video game website}}
{{cleanup}}
{{Infobox website
| name = GameFAQs
| logo = ]
| logocaption =
| screenshot = ]
| collapsible = yes
| caption = Screenshot of the GameFAQs home page, as it appeared on May 20, 2023
| url = {{URL|https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com}}
| ipv6 = No
| commercial = Yes
| type = ]
| registration = Optional, but is required for contributing content and posting on the message boards
| language = English
| num_users = <!-- The number of registered users the website has. -->
| content_license = <!-- The license of the content of the site. Works same as content_licence. -->
| programming_language = ] <!-- Needs a ref -->
| owner = ]<ref name="fandom">{{Cite web |last=Weprin |first=Alex |date=October 3, 2022 |title=TV Guide, Metacritic, GameSpot Acquired by Fandom in $55M Deal with Red Ventures |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/tv-guide-metacritic-gamespot-acquisition-fandom-1235231819/ |access-date=October 3, 2022 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |archive-date=December 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207000619/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/tv-guide-metacritic-gamespot-acquisition-fandom-1235231819/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
| author = Jeff "CJayC" Veasey
| editor = <!-- The person or entity that edits the website. -->
| launch_date = {{start date and age|1995|11|5}} (as Video Game FAQ Archive)
| revenue = <!-- The approximate revenue of the site. -->
| ip = <!-- ? -->
| current_status = Active
| footnotes = <!-- ? -->
}}


'''GameFAQs''' is a ] ] that hosts guides and other resources, as well as an active ]. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff Veasey and has been owned by ] since October 2022. Allen "SBAllen" Tyner was lead Admin for twenty years until stepping down on October 18, 2023.<ref name="Stepping down as admin">{{cite web |last1=SBAllen |title=Stepping down as admin |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/6-gamefaqs-announcements/80595955 |website=GameFAQS |access-date=8 November 2023}}</ref> The site is currently run by Community Manager "DToast" and Contributor Lead "ZoopSoul".<ref name="gamefaqs.gamespot.com">{{cite web |last1=SBAllen |title=Announcing New Community / Contributor Leads |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/6-gamefaqs-announcements/80356040 |website=GameFAQS |access-date=8 November 2023}}</ref>
], ]]]
'''GameFAQs''' is a popular ] that has provided ]s, ]s, images, codes, game saves, reviews, and data for ]s free of charge to visitors since ] ]. It was started and is maintained by Jeff "CJayC" Veasey, and it has one of the largest databases of video games available on the Internet. The systems and games range from the retro to the cutting edge, with many obscure consoles and titles. Registration allows access to the extremely active ] community (which has posted over 180 million messages in over 17 million topics by over 2 million users) and the ability to contribute game content. Since ], the site is a wholly owned subsidiary of ].


The site has a database of video game information, ], ], ]s, ]s, ], ], and ]s, almost all of which are submitted by volunteer contributors. It covers game systems made as far back as the 1980s to current day modern ] as well as ] and ]. GameFAQs also hosts an active ] community, which has a separate discussion board for each game in the site's database, along with a variety of other boards. GameFAQs has run daily ] and tournament contests, as well as annual Character Battles, since November 30, 1999.
==GameFAQs history==
<!-- Note: This is NOT a section for history of the boards themselves. This is for an official site history. All others should be linked to below. -->
GameFAQs was started on 5 November ] by Jeff "CjayC" Veasey. At that time it was called the "Video Game FAQs Archive", and was hosted on AOL. It originally served as a clone/spin-off of a popular FTP FAQ Archive.


GameFAQs has been positively reviewed by '']'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schofield |first=Jack |date=2000-05-11 |title=Games Watch |page=11 |work=] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2000/may/11/onlinesupplement11 |access-date=2007-08-06 |issn=0261-3077 |quote=SPOnG, the Super Players Online Gamesbase, would like to become to games what the Internet Movie Database is to films. Since the IMDb is one of the world's best websites, that would be useful, though GameFAQs might be a better place to start. |archive-date=2014-05-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140509075746/http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2000/may/11/onlinesupplement11 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Pratchett |first=Rhianna |date=2003-02-06 |title=Web Watch |page=8 |work=] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2003/feb/06/internet.onlinesupplement1 |access-date=2007-08-06 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=2014-09-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910181055/http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2003/feb/06/internet.onlinesupplement1 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Boseley |first1=Sarah |last2=Michael Cross |last3=Tom Happold |display-authors=etal |date=2004-12-16 |title=Cream of the Crop: 100 Most Useful Websites |page=22 |work=] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2004/dec/16/onlinesupplement.shopping |access-date=2007-08-06 |issn=0261-3077 |quote=GameFAQs lists game player-created walkthroughs, plus links to cheats, reviews and previews |archive-date=2013-06-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130630024237/http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2004/dec/16/onlinesupplement.shopping |url-status=live }}</ref> '']'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Davidson |first=Neil |date=2003-03-11 |title=Online Site Fort Knox of Video-Game Hints |pages=15 |work=] |agency=] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/81136152/online-site-fort-knox-of-video-game/ |access-date=2021-07-10 |archive-date=2021-07-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210710003557/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/81136152/online-site-fort-knox-of-video-game/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and '']''.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=2000-02-04 |title=Internet Capsule Review |url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,275310,00.html |url-status=dead |magazine=] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315191740/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,275310,00.html |archive-date=2012-03-15 |access-date=2007-01-24}}</ref> In 2009, GameFAQs.com was one of the 300 highest-] English-language websites according to ].<ref>{{Cite web |title=GameFAQs.com |url=http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/gamefaqs.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529164209/http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/gamefaqs.com |archive-date=2014-05-29 |access-date=2009-10-13 |website=Traffic Details from Alexa |publisher=]}}</ref>
By December ] , the site was still young, both in appearance and lack of content demonstrated. The site contained less than 1000 FAQs and guides, combined over all systems. The site focused primarily on the seven popular systems of the time - arcade games, the ], the ], the ], the ], the ], and the ] - although other systems were also listed. The site was very basic to every degree of the word, and was not updated on a regular basis.


== History ==
By early ], GameFAQs had a new design. In fact, it had two different designs. One was customized for ]s that supported tables , and the other was made specifically for browsers with no support of tables (or text-only) . Despite these changes, the color scheme consisted of only white, black and blue, and looked somewhat amateurish. The content, however, was beginning to grow. By April, the site had 1301 files and codes for over 800 games. New features were introduced by Veasey that would shape GameFAQs' future - such as user requests for information; a search engine; recognition for contributors; and more.
{{expand section|Any activity after 2007, any other info in relevant years prior|date=July 2012}}


GameFAQs was started as the '''Video Game FAQ Archive''' on November 5, 1995,<ref name="about">{{Cite web |title=What Is GameFAQs? |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/help/41-what-is-gamefaqs |access-date=2014-05-26 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2022-11-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221125044917/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/help/41-what-is-gamefaqs |url-status=live }}</ref> by gamer and programmer Jeff Veasey. The site was created to bring numerous online guides and FAQs from across the internet into one centralized location.<ref name="faqwriters">{{Cite web |last=Totilo |first=Stephen |date=2006-01-24 |title=Meet the Man Who'll Make You a Smooth Criminal in San Andreas |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1521550/meet-the-man-wholl-make-you-a-smooth-criminal-in-san-andreas/ |access-date=2014-05-26 |publisher=] |archive-date=2016-04-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410075553/http://www.mtv.com/news/1521550/meet-the-man-wholl-make-you-a-smooth-criminal-in-san-andreas/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Hosted on ], it originally served as a ] of ]'s ] FAQ archive.<ref>Andy Eddy's archive was formerly located at ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/vi/vidgames/faqs{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref name="qa">{{Cite web |last=Veasey |first=Jeff |date=2005-04-29 |title=The Great GameFAQs Q&A |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/6-gamefaqs-announcements/20696917 |access-date=2008-08-04 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210120943/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/6-gamefaqs-announcements/20696917 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Veasey |first=Jeff |date=2005-11-05 |title=10 Years. Wow. |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/11-team-gamefaqs/24408683 |access-date=2009-12-20 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210120931/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/11-team-gamefaqs/24408683 |url-status=live }}</ref> The initial version of the site had approximately 10 pages and 100 FAQs.<ref name="radio">{{Cite AV media |url=http://wxbh.net/gaming_files1.htm |title=Interview with Jeff Veasey |date=2002-03-02 |publisher=WXBH AM-1190 |place=] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020607073548/http://wxbh.net/gaming_files1.htm |archive-date=2002-06-07 |website=The Gaming Files}}</ref> In 1996, the site moved to gamefaqs.com and changed its name to ''GameFAQs''.<ref name="about" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=VGFA on flex.net |url=http://www.flex.net/~cjayc/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010723115459/http://www.flex.net/~cjayc/ |archive-date=2001-07-23 |access-date=2006-09-21 |website=GameFAQs}}</ref> At this time, GameFAQs listed fewer than 1000 FAQs and guides and was updated on an irregular basis.<ref name="about2">{{Cite web |title=Video Game FAQ Archive |url=http://www.gamefaqs.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961223185936/http://www.gamefaqs.com/ |archive-date=1996-12-23 |access-date=2007-04-09 |website=GameFAQs}}</ref>
By late ], GameFAQs had moved off of the ] servers and was partnered with Imagine Games Network (IGN). During this period of time, Jeff Veasey was working on GameFAQs more than ever before. It is assumed that this is when GameFAQs became his full-time job. Until this time, he had been working in either the radio field (unconfirmed report) or with computer/web programming (evidence taken from a later radio interview). GameFAQs had made it through two years and a new aspect of the site began; user contests. There were only two winners of the GameFAQs Second Birthday Contest out of 1000 entries, but it was a start.


During the following months, the site grew in content and in design; two different styles were introduced in early 1997 to accommodate the support of ] in ]s (or the lack thereof).<ref>{{Cite web |title=GameFAQs (tables) |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970218070909/http://www.gamefaqs.com/home.html |archive-date=1997-02-18 |access-date=2006-09-19 |website=GameFAQs}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=GameFAQs |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970218070917/http://www.gamefaqs.com/thome.html |archive-date=1997-02-18 |access-date=2006-09-19 |website=GameFAQs}}</ref> Two key features of the site—the game search engine and the contributor recognition pages—were planned at this time.
Throughout ] , Veasey continued to work on the site and post new user-submitted FAQs and codes. In late 1998, the site received another design overhaul. Still operating as an affiliate of IGN, GameFAQs added links to other Snowball partners to its menu bar, and had a number of aesthetic changes applied to it. The actual content of the site hadn't changed much, but Veasey always kept the users informed about the latest events and news. There were frequent updates to the site, even if they weren't always contribution-related. This continued for some time.


On February 6, 2018, the site changed its domain from gamefaqs.com to gamefaqs.gamespot.com,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tyner |first=Allen |date=2018-02-06 |title=Domain change complete & login improvements |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/6-gamefaqs-announcements/76289961 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206191056/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/6-gamefaqs-announcements/76289961 |archive-date=2018-02-06 |access-date=2014-05-26 |website=GameFAQs}}</ref> due to CNET (owner of GameSpot) acquiring GameFAQs, and integrating GameFAQs into the GameSpot network. The link gamefaqs.com now redirects to gamefaqs.gamespot.com as a result.
In early ] , GameFAQs had yet another new layout. The sidebar and tables on the homepage which showed the top games were added. The color scheme was also changed from blue and white to pink and red. GameFAQs was still under the flag of IGN.


=== IGN affiliation ===
In November 1999 , several things happened very quickly. On the fifth, a Quick Search box was added to all pages, at which time the site was also celebrating its fourth birthday. On the seventh, the opened as Beta and a Poll of the Day would be implemented by the end of that week.
In 1997, GameFAQs became an independent affiliate of the ] (IGN), leading to the placement of affiliate links on the ].<ref name="pink">{{Cite web |title=GameFAQs home page |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19981212025143/http://www.gamefaqs.com/ |archive-date=1998-12-12 |access-date=2006-10-27 |website=GameFAQs}}</ref> User contests were introduced during this period; the first monthly contest, which was held in 1998, received 253 entries.<ref>{{Cite web |title=October 1998: Select Fighter |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/features/c9810 |access-date=2006-09-29 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210120955/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/features/c9810 |url-status=live }}</ref> GameFAQs went through several design changes, including a pink color scheme,<ref name="pink" /> before arriving at the blue-colored layout that was used until 2004.


In November 1999, several changes occurred in rapid succession.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GameFAQs home page |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991128113006/http://gamefaqs.com/index.html |archive-date=1999-11-28 |access-date=2006-09-19 |website=GameFAQs}}</ref> A search box was added to every page on November 5, the site’s fourth anniversary. On November 7, the message boards opened in a ] testing mode.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Veasey |first=Jeff |date=2001-11-07 |title=Second Anniversary Karma Bonus |url=http://chris.insder.com/index.php?pg=426 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041012075244/http://chris.insder.com/index.php?pg=426 |archive-date=2004-10-12 |access-date=2006-09-19 |website=GameFAQs}}</ref> The "Poll of the Day" was introduced at the end of the month.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Poll of the Day #1 |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/1-what-do-you-think-about-polls-on-web-sites |access-date=2006-09-19 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210180150/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/1-what-do-you-think-about-polls-on-web-sites |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Poll of the Day |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll?page=74 |access-date=2009-12-20 |website=GameFAQs |quote=11/30/99 |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210121007/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll?page=74 |url-status=live }}</ref> These changes marked Veasey's increased concentration on the site, and it was around this time that GameFAQs became his full-time job.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Veasey |first=Jeff |year=1999 |title=The Big Announcement |url=http://gamefaqs.com/announce.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991114205707/http://gamefaqs.com/announce.html |archive-date=1999-11-14 |access-date=2007-05-26 |website=GameFAQs}}</ref><ref name="davidson">{{Cite news |last=Davidson |first=Neil |date=2003-03-05 |title=Stumped by a Video Game? Chances Are Jeff Veasey Can Help |publisher=Canadian Press Newswire}}</ref><ref name="cnet">{{Cite web |last=Veasey |first=Jeff |date=2003-06-03 |title=The Future of GameFAQs |url=http://chris.insder.com/index.php?pg=224 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041012074034/http://chris.insder.com/index.php?pg=224 |archive-date=2004-10-12 |access-date=2006-09-19 |website=GameFAQs}}</ref> Until this time, he had been working as a ].<ref name="davidson" /> On August 9, 2000, the site received one million hits in a single day for the first time.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GameFAQs home page |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000815053934/http://www.gamefaqs.com/ |archive-date=2000-08-15 |access-date=2007-03-13 |website=GameFAQs}}</ref> By 2001, the "GameFAQs Chat" (an ] chat server) had been launched;<ref>{{Cite web |title=GameFAQs Community |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/community |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010401131103/http://cgi.gamefaqs.com/ |archive-date=2001-04-01 |access-date=2006-09-19 |website=GameFAQs}}</ref> however, it was removed in May 2001 due to administrative issues.<ref name="radio" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=GameFAQs Home Page |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010512232132/http://www.gamefaqs.com/ |archive-date=2001-05-12 |access-date=2006-09-19 |website=GameFAQs}}</ref>
Between December 1999 and late ], GameFAQs slowed down in terms of the addition of new features. The GameFAQs chat went ] on , but did not last long due to administrative issues - it was simply too hard to control. The ] server, however, definitely brought a rise in the site's activity, with more people visiting the domain at different times of the day. The GameFAQs chat was initially revolved around a minor number of administrator-owned channels, but eventually allowed users to create their own (such as #trivia) through a petitioning system.


=== Post-IGN ===
] was the next year of major change for GameFAQs. Firstly, Veasey decided to dissociate the site with IGN. To continue generating revenue, a banner was placed on the top of each page that was sold to non-profit organizations. This changed by May 2001, when ] became an official affiliate of GameFAQs. In this month, the chat feature was completely shut down due to the issues mentioned previously: while full details weren't revealed and no official precise reason was given, it is believed that this was due mainly to the chat's main administrator (who went by the nickname Wroth) continuous conflicts with other popular users such was Wise Old Gamer, Vegeth and Dettronen Spy.
On January 9, 2001, GameFAQs ended its association with IGN.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GameFAQs home page |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010118211300/http://gamefaqs.com/ |archive-date=2001-01-18 |access-date=2006-09-19 |website=GameFAQs}}</ref> To continue generating revenue, an advertising banner sold to non-profit organizations was placed on the top of each page. This lasted until ] became an official affiliate of GameFAQs; CNET ads ran on the top of the page, and links to news articles from ] were shown on the home page.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GameFAQs home page |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010418154308/http://www.gamefaqs.com/ |archive-date=2001-04-18 |access-date=2006-09-19 |website=GameFAQs}}</ref> In September 2002, the ad was moved from the horizontal ] to the vertical ]. This led to changes to the links on the side, as well as the creation of navigational links at the top of the screen.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GameFAQs home page |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020922025120/http://gamefaqs.com/ |archive-date=2002-09-22 |access-date=2006-09-20 |website=GameFAQs}}</ref> Contributions to GameFAQs continued to increase, and Veasey, as sole operator and administrator of the site, dedicated significant portions of his time to ensure that GameFAQs remained updated and successful.


On April 1, 2002, Veasey changed GameFAQs to "GameFAX" as an ] joke.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GameFAX |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206083811/http://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ |archive-date=2018-02-06 |access-date=2006-09-19 |website=GameFAQs }} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061101000124/http://www.ksot.com/GameFAX.htm |date=2006-11-01 }}</ref> The site's colors were changed to green and black to imitate those of the ], with the intention of making users believe that GameFAQs was now dedicated solely to the Xbox, "the only system that matters." After clicking on any link on the main page, users were directed to the real GameFAQs home page. Nevertheless, Veasey reported receiving hate mail from users.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Veasey |first=Jeff |date=2006-04-01 |title=An important notice about the future of GameFAQs |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/11-team-gamefaqs/27283817 |access-date=2008-08-04 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210180127/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/11-team-gamefaqs/27283817 |url-status=live }}</ref>
During the middle of ] came about "board wars" between the popular Final Fantasy VII and Star Ocean: the Second Story gaming boards. Because many users were getting in trouble due to off-topic conversation, Veasey interferred eventually and created what was the first Social Board on Star Ocean: the Second Story (which has since been removed). Final Fantasy VII soon had a board and other popular games had one installed as well.


On March 2, 2002, Veasey participated in a radio interview with WXBH AM-1190 on their program called "The Gaming Files." During this interview, Veasey was drilled with questions from current and former users of GameFAQs; he also discussed his time on GameFAQs and how the site came to be.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 29, 2002 |title=Veasey Radio Interview with The Gaming Files |url=http://wxbh.net/gaming_files1.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020607073548/http://wxbh.net/gaming_files1.htm |archive-date=2002-06-07}}</ref>
In September ], CNET's advertising policy changed, prompting more changes to GameFAQs. The ad was moved from the top of the page (horizontally) to a vertical position in the sidebar. This also led the way to the navigation of systems at the top of the screen. Changes were consequently made to the links on the side, namely minimizing them and creating subsections in "index" pages. In terms of contributions, GameFAQs continued to grow larger and larger, and Veasey - who was still the sole operator and administrator of the site - dedicated hours upon hours of his time to ensure that GameFAQs remained up-to-date, popular, and above all, successful.


=== CNET acquisition ===
On ] ] , Veasey announced to general GameFAQs users (moderators of the boards had previously been alerted) that its long-standing affiliate and sponsor, CNET, had acquired the site and all of its assets (minus user-submitted guides/FAQs, due to obvious legal issues). He assured the worried public that GameFAQs would undergo in terms of administration, and that the 'GameFAQs the users saw today would be the one they saw tomorrow'. This was true to a certain extent, as the only visible change was a discreet CNET footer. Other minor changes included moving the servers to California (thus changing the board's time to GMT -8), as well as rolling all the server names into one (previously, it was s1/s2/s3; now it became simple cgi.gamefaqs). This made users happy because the servers weres starting to lag.
] headquarters in San Francisco, California]]


On May 6, 2003, ] (the site's long-standing affiliate and sponsor) ] GameFAQs. The amount paid for GameFAQs and two other unrelated websites was US$2.2 million.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-08-05 |title=CNET Networks SEC Quarterly Report |url=http://ccbn.10kwizard.com/xml/download.php?repo=tenk&ipage=2269604&format=PDF |access-date=2006-09-20 |publisher=CNET Networks |format=PDF}}{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> On June 3, 2003, Veasey announced the merger to the users of the site.<ref name="cnet" /> He clarified that the user-submitted content (i.e., FAQs and reviews) remained under the ownership of the authors and was not (nor could be) sold to CNET; however, CNET acquired GameFAQs' rights to host them on the site. He assured users that GameFAQs would undergo no major administrative change and said, "The GameFAQs you see today is the one you'll see tomorrow."<ref name="cnet" /> This was true to a certain extent, as the only visible change over the next few months was the addition of a CNET ] to the bottom of every page. Additional changes included moving the site to ] in California.
In ] ], Veasey completely overhauled GameFAQs' security in light of an alarming rise in account hackings and stealings. It was alledged that troahbarton (a KOS user) attempted to hack one of the servers, quickening the security changes. For log-in, he encrypted the cookies and un-checked the auto-login box. He also instituted "account lockdowns." If the private email or password was changed, an email would be sent to the last known private address (in case a hacker had taken over the account). The user could then suspend it (Level 2: User Suspended) and send an email to CJayC to to get it unsuspended. This process, however, was long and cumbersome, eventually leading to its discontinuation. Security Settings were also implemented; users could lock out other login attempts from other ISPs for a set period of time. To top it off, he required everyone to read and acknowledge the changes (the next time anyone would log in, they would see the page).


From 2004 to 2006, GameFAQs witnessed further changes. On April 28, 2004, GameFAQs implemented a large visual redesign,<ref>{{Cite web |title=New Layout/Boards Merger |url=http://chris.insder.com/newlayout/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041009125141/http://chris.insder.com/newlayout/ |archive-date=2004-10-09 |access-date=2006-09-20 |website=GameFAQs Archive}}</ref> and the boards merged with the GameSpot boards to allow both communities to share the same game-specific boards (to the dismay of many GameFAQs users). To facilitate the merger, GameFAQs converted its board code from ] to ], and GameSpot dropped its ] code. On April 11, 2006, a new design was implemented, and the GameSpot logo was added to the GameFAQs logo on the header of every page. This change was initially greeted with general disapproval by users on the message boards.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Veasey |first=Jeff |date=2006-04-28 |title=Survey says... |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/11-team-gamefaqs/27814467 |access-date=2008-08-04 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210180314/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/11-team-gamefaqs/27814467 |url-status=live }}</ref> To satisfy those who prefer the earlier layout, the old board pages have been preserved for certain users.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Veasey |first=Jeff |date=2006-08-03 |title=The v9 End of Life Project |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/11-team-gamefaqs/29712507 |access-date=2008-08-04 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210180250/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/11-team-gamefaqs/29712507 |url-status=live }}</ref> Shortly after the redesign, the site began using the ] ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Veasey |first=Jeff |date=2006-07-12 |title=The First Major Code Change Is Live... Whew! |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/11-team-gamefaqs/29230067 |access-date=2008-08-04 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210120953/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/11-team-gamefaqs/29230067 |url-status=live }}</ref>
In April/May ], GameFAQs underwent its biggest visual and administration change yet. At the demand of CNET (and to the disdain of many GameFAQs users), it partially merged its game boards with those of and radically changed the graphics to those of which we see today. The site's web pages are now styled by ] instead of tables. GameFAQs also converted from Microsoft ] to a ]-powered system. However, its lack of ] compliance and less-than-easy CSS modification has angered both aspiring web designers (and those who want to create their own stylesheets) and average users. On December 1, a site-wide login button was introduced and a system was introduced, meaning that not only GameFAQs users would have to login using an email address (rather than a username), but could also use their usernames on ] or ] (both of which owned by CNET).


=== Veasey's departure ===
Today, GameFAQs is fully owned by ]. Jeff "CJayC" Veasey still mantains responsibility for working on the main site - e-mails, codes, FAQs, reviews, saves, game data, coding, and updating the homepage. CNET has hired Bethany Massimilla to administrate the GameFAQs message boards and lead the moderators. CNET has supplied newer (and faster) servers for the entire site. Although the changeover from a one-person-administrator to being owned by a big company, as well as transition from old to new servers and boards, was rough, GameFAQs appears to have settled into its new status. With the addition of long-time message board moderator Sailor Bacon to the administration team, GameFAQs has regained a level of stability after initial fears, critics and doubts.
On July 19, 2007, Veasey announced that he would eventually be leaving the site. According to his announcement, Allen Tyner, who had been employed with the site since 2004, would take over as editor and administrator of GameFAQs.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Veasey |first=Jeff |date=2007-07-19 |title=The Long, Slow Goodbye |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/11-team-gamefaqs/36893099 |access-date=2008-08-04 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210180312/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/11-team-gamefaqs/36893099 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kuchera |first=Ben |date=2007-07-20 |title=The Founder of GameFAQs to Step Down; It's Time to Show Some Respect |url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2007/07/the-founder-of-gamefaqs-to-step-down-its-time-to-show-some-respect.ars |access-date=2009-12-20 |publisher=] |archive-date=2012-08-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120827064046/http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2007/07/the-founder-of-gamefaqs-to-step-down-its-time-to-show-some-respect/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-07-20 |title=GameFAQs Founder Announces (Eventual) Retirement from Site |url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/75116-GameFAQs-Founder-Announces-Eventual-Retirement-from-Site |access-date=8 October 2014 |website=The Escapist |archive-date=2014-10-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012144232/http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/75116-GameFAQs-Founder-Announces-Eventual-Retirement-from-Site |url-status=dead }}</ref>


=== Red Ventures acquisition ===
==Message boards==
] acquired various properties, including GameFAQs and GameSpot, from ] in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Spangler |first=Todd |title=ViacomCBS Reaches Deal to Sell CNET for $500 Million to Marketing Firm Red Ventures |url=https://variety.com/2020/digital/news/cnet-viacomcbs-sells-red-ventures-1234768810/ |access-date=November 13, 2020 |website=] |date=14 September 2020 |archive-date=December 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201219232151/https://variety.com/2020/digital/news/cnet-viacomcbs-sells-red-ventures-1234768810/ |url-status=live }}</ref>


=== Fandom acquisition ===
GameFAQs is noteworthy for its active message board community. Because of the high volume of posts it receives each day, old messages on the boards are purged daily, keeping the total number of posts to a reasonable level. Unfortunately, many of the boards, especially ones meant for discussion of important social issues, are often overrun with ]s and people who like to "bait" the trolls.
] acquired various properties, including GameFAQs and GameSpot, from Red Ventures in October 2022.<ref name="fandom" />


== Content ==
*'''Another Place (AP)''' is a GameFAQs Social Board created when LUE's user level requirement went up to 31. AP is definitely not a part of LUE anymore, and has somewhat of a tightly-knit community. There are many social topics around and is known by its inhabitants as &quot;Your GameFAQs home for polygamy and wit.&quot; Some of AP's residents have made their first names known to the board and ask to be addressed by them. AP also has its own, semi-official website containing a set of guidelines, quotes, and a member list, or APe list.
{{thumb|caption=Growth of FAQs hosted (1995-2012)<br /><ref name="faqwriters" /><ref name="radio" /><ref name="about2" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=5 July 1997 |title=www.gamefaqs.com |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970705071849/http://www.gamefaqs.com/thome.html |archive-date=5 July 1997 |access-date=30 December 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=15 August 2000 |title=GameFAQs: Requests |url=http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/requests/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000818043745/http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/requests/ |archive-date=18 August 2000 |access-date=30 December 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=21 December 2002 |title=GameFAQs: GameFAQs Site Statistics |url=http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/stats/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021221081348/http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/stats/ |archive-date=21 December 2002 |access-date=30 December 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=20 June 2003 |title=GameFAQs: GameFAQs Site Statistics |url=http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/stats/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030620173637/http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/stats/ |archive-date=20 June 2003 |access-date=30 December 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=19 June 2004 |title=GameFAQs Site Statistics- GameFAQS |url=http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/stats/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040629204928/http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/stats/ |archive-date=29 June 2004 |access-date=30 December 2016}}</ref><ref name="gfaqsjeff1" /><ref name="ama2012" />
*'''Current Events (CE)''' is the oldest social board on GameFAQs. It is usually the second most popular social board on GameFAQs. It is frequented by many of the moderators, and even CJayC from time to time.
|content=
*'''Life, the Universe, and Everything (LUE)''' is the most popular GameFAQs social board with usually well over 50,000 posts at any time, quite a remarkable number given the frequent purging of old posts. The name was derived from the ] series by ]. It was originally created to provide a place to discuss such things as religion and existence. Discussion today is often sex-related and has been for years.
{{Graph:Chart
**LUE is also home to many fads, including the infamous LUEshi (an ] of ] riding ] created by the user Patamon. Posting it was grounds for suspension, but it is now legal in designated ASCII topics.), and the phrase "y helo thar", which was said on a live broadcast of ]. The phrase 'Y helo thar' originated in a flash video called "The Attention Whore", which mocks the appearance of women on message boards.
| width = 240
** Though the board used to be open to all members with 30 Karma, it was raised to 75 Karma following the around November 2002. A 150 Karma requirement was implemented after the on May 7th, 2003, and soon after the board was removed from all board listings. To get to it, one has to manually type in the URL and/or add it to one's favorite board list.
| height = 200
** On ] ], following a massive ] invasion by LUE, CJayC LUE by forbidding any user with a user ID greater than 888113 from ever reaching LUE. The last person to ever get into LUE, Lunarhawk99, was hailed as "The One" and regarded as a celebrity, although this perceived status was lost soon after he gained access. Soon after, from January 4th to January 15th, CJayC ran a sign-up for LUE; people that haven't signed up aren't allowed to visit the board. This was done to prevent any new members from visiting and to permanently remove banned users. In exchange, LUE was granted slightly more leeway when it comes to controversial topics.
| xAxisTitle = Year
** The ] (sometimes referred to as the "Unholy Trinity") is the term for the three most commonly posted ]s on GameFAQs - ], ], and the ]. "Goatse" and "Tubgirl" are autoflagged words, and it is now a major offense to provide links to the sites.
| xAxisAngle = -40
*'''Random Insanity (RI)''' was originally created to shunt the less-serious users off of CE. It quickly became host to text-based roleplaying and "social topics" where people could come in and talk about nothing in particular. One of the most popular of these is Pikadeth's Playhouse, which spawned many imitators. Originally RI was slightly hostile towards CE (the origin of &quot;board invasion&quot; being a ]), with the RICE wars being remembered by the "old RIers". RI also has a history of being competitive with LUE; in the early days, users would perform "raids" on LUE in the PM hours. Before the it usually had twice the number of posts on CE and LUE combined. However, after the incident most of them migrated to LUE.
| x = 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012
**RI had many dramas and traditions of its own, including roleplaying, which started on the board and later moved to the board Role-Playing/Fan-Fiction. Gaw's Laws, a set of rules for roleplaying popularly used at the site, originated at RI. Today, roleplaying is somewhat of a niche, with social topics and one-liners dominating instead. RI has often had problems accepting new users, with resistance coming from "veterans" -- users who, while not necessarily there for very long, tried to establish standards on the "randomly insane" board. One event that still resonates with even the newest users is the .
| yAxisTitle = FAQs
*The '''beta boards''' were created when the message boards of GameFAQs and GameSpot were merged and GameFAQs was switched to ] from ]. They include three boards: GameFaqs Forums Beta Discussion, GameFaqs Forums Beta Bug Reports, and GS-GFQs Sharing Test Board. Although they are no longer needed, they have not been removed and some people still post on them.
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| y = 100, 1000, 1465, 18000, 18991, 22087, 23249, 36000, 49000, 56000
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}}
}}


All of the guides and walkthroughs on GameFAQs are contributed by volunteers.<ref>Mary-Kate and Ashley: Winner's Circle; '']'' (London); July 1, 2001; Stuart Andrews; p. Doors.2 "Guides to completing thousands of video games, compiled by gamers worldwide"</ref> Most of the FAQs are not actually lists of ]; instead, they cover aspects of gameplay in the same way as ]s, with walkthroughs, item lists, maps, and puzzle solutions. Nearly all of the FAQs hosted on the site are in ],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Composing Your Guide |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/help?cat=28 |access-date=2006-10-26 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210121003/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/help?cat=28 |url-status=live }}</ref> though GameFAQs does also accept stand-alone images, such as maps, diagrams, and puzzle solutions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Images (Maps and other graphics) |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/help?cat=11 |access-date=2007-01-01 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210180215/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/help?cat=11 |url-status=live }}</ref> From December 2009, formatted guides which allow authors to use mark-up loosely based on ] in the document were being accepted.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tyner, Allen |date=2009-12-04 |title=Ask GameFAQs: A new approach to FAQs |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/11-team-gamefaqs/52525167 |access-date=2009-12-19 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210180117/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/11-team-gamefaqs/52525167 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=GameFAQs Help: Formatted FAQs |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/help?cat=53 |access-date=2010-06-06 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210121005/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/help?cat=53 |url-status=live }}</ref> In addition to FAQs, contributors can also submit reader reviews, cheat codes, developer credits, game release data, game saves, ]s, and images of ]. In 2006, the site hosted over 36,000 guides.<ref name="faqwriters" /> By February 2009, over 49,000 guides were hosted on the site and over 113,194 reviews.<ref name="gfaqsjeff1">{{Cite web |last=Veasey |first=Jeff |date=2009-02-20 |title=Ask GameFAQs: Double Stuf'd |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/11-team-gamefaqs/48243761 |access-date=2009-12-20 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210121008/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/11-team-gamefaqs/48243761 |url-status=live }}</ref> As of 2012, this had increased to over 56,000 guides for 21,639 unique games.<ref name="ama2012">{{Cite web |date=20 June 2012 |title=wetterdew comments on I Am the Administrator of GameFAQs.com, AMA! |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/vc3jz/i_am_the_administrator_of_gamefaqscom_ama/c5370eg?context=5 |access-date=8 October 2014 |website=reddit |archive-date=7 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141207164108/http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/vc3jz/i_am_the_administrator_of_gamefaqscom_ama/c5370eg?context=5 |url-status=live }}</ref>
*'''The Couch, The Hallway, The Porch, and The Forum''' are "forum" message boards for general chitchat, with The Couch being the largest among them.


When an author submits something to GameFAQs, it is screened by an administrator before being posted on the site.<ref name="submitted">{{Cite web |title=After You've Submitted |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/help?cat=31 |access-date=2006-10-26 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210121010/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/help?cat=31 |url-status=live }}</ref> The author retains the ] on the submitted material,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Copyrights, Trademarks, and Plagiarism |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/help?cat=29 |access-date=2006-10-26 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210120951/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/help?cat=29 |url-status=live }}</ref> and their name is added to the site's "Contributor Recognition" section. GameFAQs agrees to host the guide only on their servers but does allow other affiliates to link directly to the guides (including ], ], ], and ]).<ref name="submitted" />
*'''Long-Timers, Veterans, Legends, The Elite, Iconia, Idolatry, and ???''' are user-level specific boards. Long-Timers is for user-level 30, Veterans is for level 31, Legends is for level 32, The Elite is for level 33, Iconia is for level 34, Idolatry is for level 35, and ??? is for level 36 users.


GameFAQs features several ongoing contributor contests, including FAQ of the Month, Review of the Month, and numerous "FAQ ]," which reward contributors who submit FAQs for uncovered, high-demand games.<ref>{{Cite web |title=FAQ Bounty |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/contribute/faq_bounty |access-date=2007-03-18 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210180310/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/contribute/faq_bounty |url-status=live }}</ref> The FOTM and ROTM contests are generally picked from comprehensive, complete guides or reviews for new games. Winners are sent a ] for an ] or can opt for a mailed ] upon contest entry.<ref>{{Cite web |title=FAQ of the Month |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/contribute/fotm |access-date=2007-03-18 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210120957/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/contribute/fotm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Review of the Month |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/contribute/rotm |access-date=2007-03-18 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210180218/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/contribute/rotm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="mtvgta">{{Cite web |last=Totilo, Stephen |date=2006-01-24 |title=Meet The Man Who'll Make You A Smooth Criminal In San Andreas |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1521550/20070131/index.jhtml |access-date=2009-12-20 |publisher=MTV.com |archive-date=2012-06-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120622134327/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1521550/lost-san-andreas-heres-man-call.jhtml |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*'''Game Design and Programming''' is a board where people can discuss programming concepts and code. The veterans at this board usually look down on "Game Makers", especially the illegal English version of RPG Maker, focusing instead on making the games using OpenGL and SDL. There are even a couple of professional video game programmers who hang out at this board.


In 2004, ] published two commercial strategy guides with material from GameFAQs: ''The Ultimate ] Strategy Guide'' and ''The Ultimate ] Strategy Guide''.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Ultimate Xbox Strategy Guide |publisher=] |year=2004 |editor-last=Cohen, Corey |asin=B000E7URBQ |oclc=60827530}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=The Ultimate PS2 Strategy Guide |publisher=] |year=2004 |editor-last=Amrich, Dan |asin=B000E7URPM |oclc=60579744}}</ref> These guides were composed of FAQs written by contributors on GameFAQs.
*'''Message Board Help''' is the unofficial complaint forum of the boards. If a user feels something is wrong with the moderation system or staff, or possibly a board error, it is usually reported here. It is also used to ask questions about board features. This board was named Questions and Suggestions until the Karma system was introduced. After that, all suggestions and petitions have gone to Site Suggestions. Lately, it has become more social, with many topics becoming more like discussions.


=== Message boards ===
*'''Poll of the Day (PotD)''' is another social board, similar to LUE, although the topics there are not usually as bad. PotD has nothing particular in common with the Poll of the Day on the main page, and is usually used to discuss women, love, etc.
Every game listed on GameFAQs has its own message board, where both novice and experienced gamers can discuss game strategies and other game-related topics.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carless |first=Simon |title=Gaming Hacks |date=October 2004 |publisher=] |isbn=0-596-00714-0 |author-link=Simon Carless}}</ref><ref>{{Cite conference |last=Flor |first=Nick |date=July 2004 |title=The Architecture of the Symbol Engine in a Programmable Autonomous Business |publisher=] |pages=119–126 |doi=10.1109/ICECT.2004.1319725 |isbn=0-7695-2098-7 |book-title=Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on E-Commerce Technology}}</ref> After the redesign of May 2004, the game boards with enforced ] were shared with the GameSpot community (another ] website). Certain popular games may have additional boards for social discussion. Game-specific boards for certain older consoles do not have topicality rules and are often claimed for social discussion—these are referred to as "secret" or "dead" boards. Every system also has a general board for discussing hardware and upcoming games.<ref name="boards">{{Cite web |title=Message Boards |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/ |access-date=2008-08-05 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206190838/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards |url-status=live }}</ref>


GameFAQs has boards made purely for the purpose of socializing, some that cater to special interests (such as ], ], ], and ]), and some purely for users from a particular region (e.g., United Kingdom, Australia/New Zealand). GameFAQs also has boards for official announcements, contributor discussion, contest discussion, suggestions, and site help.<ref name="boards" />
*'''Review Contributors''' is the board for all the review writers to talk about common interests. This board has been split to better categorize the discussions on it. It is now composed out of three boards: General, Help and Critiques, and Social.


The custom-made GameFAQs Message Boards coded by Veasey began operation on November 7, 1999.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GameFAQs: Message Board Frequently Asked Questions |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/6-gamefaqs-announcements |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000510142945/http://cgi.gamefaqs.com/boards/faq.asp |archive-date=2000-05-10 |access-date=2006-12-21}}</ref> Although the original purpose of the board system was to facilitate game discussion, other board categories have been added since the boards opened. Every day, approximately 20,000 topics and 200,000 messages are posted on GameFAQs' 60,000+ individual boards,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tyner, Allen |date=2008-07-04 |title=Ask GameFAQs: We Have Explosive |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/11-team-gamefaqs/44064783 |access-date=2008-08-04 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210120934/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/11-team-gamefaqs/44064783 |url-status=live }}</ref> and on November 7, 2006, there were more than 100,000 accounts actively in use.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Veasey |first=Jeff |date=2006-11-07 |title=Happy Birthday to Us... and to you! |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/11-team-gamefaqs/31607751 |access-date=2008-08-04 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210180141/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/11-team-gamefaqs/31607751 |url-status=live }}</ref> During October 2009, there was an average of 84,853 unique logins a day.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tyner, Allen |date=2009-10-24 |title=Ask GameFAQs: I like to move it, move it |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/11-team-gamefaqs/51910546 |access-date=2008-12-22 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210180152/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/11-team-gamefaqs/51910546 |url-status=live }}</ref>
*'''Regional boards''' are boards where gamers can chat to people in their own region as well as the world. Most are generic social boards while boards like the ] & ] board have special events like the noteworthy Battle Royale by Jerec.


On March 23, 2012, it was announced the GameFAQs and GameSpot will once again start to separate content. On May 7, 2012, the shared GameFAQs-run message boards went read-only on GameSpot.<ref>{{Cite web |last=SBAllen |title=Topics Go Read-Only on GameSpot - SBallin'! Message Board |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/11-sballin/62745571 |access-date=2012-08-25 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210121009/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/11-sballin/62745571 |url-status=live }}</ref>
*'''Special Boards''' are hard to find because one has to type their board numbers (found in parentheses) manually in the address bar. The boards are: Spatula (622), Board 250 (250), Brilliant (-1), Spork (542), Eggbeater (486), Semprini (709), Jenny (8675309), Pie (314159265), Rnd() (123456789), Nine (9), Lame (20040401), Toaster Oven (909090909), and Angela (8535937). In all of these boards one can usually find topics that are used for karma raising by many users, even though such topics are no longer necessary. Toaster Oven in particular had been rumored to exist for years, and was finally created by CJayC along with Rnd(), Nine, and Lame as the ] Joke for ]. Angela was created along with Jenny several years ago, but very few knew about it until late in 2004.


==== Features ====
*'''Site Suggestions''' is the official petitioning board, though very few ever pass. Usually passed petitions are a new special interest or social board, though very occasionally a new feature might be added.
Posts made on the message boards are mostly ]. Some ] is used on the boards, including bold and italics tags.<ref name="boardhelp">{{Cite web |title=Board Basics |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/help?cat=18 |access-date=2006-09-20 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210180114/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/help?cat=18 |url-status=live }}</ref> The forums use a ] to prevent the use of certain vulgar words, which is intended to keep the forum safe for all readers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Message Board Terms of Use |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/features/tou |access-date=2008-08-04 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210121004/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/features/tou |url-status=dead }}</ref> On some boards, topics that have no new posts for a period of time are removed permanently or are locked and archived.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rules and Standards |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/help?cat=19 |access-date=2007-11-08 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210180221/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/help?cat=19 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Tyner, Allen |date=2008-02-07 |title=Game Board Archiving Active |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/6-gamefaqs-announcements/41276959 |access-date=2008-08-04 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210180211/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/6-gamefaqs-announcements/41276959 |url-status=live }}</ref>


GameFAQs users gain one "karma" for every day they visit the boards while logged in. As karma increases, new features become available, such as the ability to post more messages per day, edit posts, and send private messages.<ref name="boardhelp" /> Users can add favorite boards to a personalized list on the main boards page and can track specific topics (a feature added in 2006).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Additional Features |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/help?cat=20 |access-date=2006-09-30 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210121006/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/help?cat=20 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Veasey |first=Jeff |date=2006-12-06 |title=Topic Tracking |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/6-gamefaqs-announcements/32250342 |access-date=2008-08-04 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210121000/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/6-gamefaqs-announcements/32250342 |url-status=live }}</ref>
*'''Special Interest Boards''' are boards that, while not related to specific games (and in most cases, not related to gaming at all), are proof that petitions on Site Suggestions do pass. Special Interest boards include Anime, Music, Graphics, Television, Web Design, Pro Wrestling, RPGs (including paper and ]), Sports, Movies, Web Cartoons and Design, Card Games, Martial Arts, Books, Classic Gaming, Paranormal & Conspiracy, Next Generation Gaming discussion, Adult Swim, and Poetry. Even popular things like ], ], ], ], ], ], and ] have their own boards.


==== Moderators ====
*'''Summer Contest''' is the board where people talk about the Summer Character Contest, a huge event at GameFAQs, where the Poll of the Day is replaced by a video game character tournament. Previous winners were ] from ], ] from ], and Link again in 2004. This board has evolved since 2002 for the most part independently from the other boards mentioned. One well-known event on these boards has happened 2 years in a row, directly after Crono's loss to Mario in both tournaments, each by around 100 votes. Mass account suicides, flaming/trolling, and even accusations of CJayC cheating ensued for days after both times. This board is also known for the constant flame wars between certain groups of users, and the word &quot;]&quot; is horribly overused. During the Spring of 2004, the board name changed to represent the Spring Best Game Ever contest (which was eventually won by ], but it is normally under its Summer Contest moniker.
The message boards are managed by the site's administrators and ]. Initially, Veasey was the only administrator and therefore had full control over the boards; however, more administrators have since been appointed. Tyner, who uses the username "SBAllen" (formerly "Sailor Bacon"), was the main administrator on the boards until 2023.<ref name="about" /> On May 7, 2012, Tyner announced long-time moderator Devin Morgan had been hired as another administrator; his primary role was to work on the code of the site.<ref name="morgan">{{Cite web |title=Devin Morgan Named New Administrator |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/6-message-board-announcements/62746844 |access-date=2023-04-10 |archive-date=2022-05-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502021304/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/6-message-board-announcements/62746844 |url-status=live }}</ref> On September 5, 2014, Tyner also announced that long time user Stephanie Barnes (under the username Krystal109) had been hired as the site's Community Manager, which included duties such as running the site's contests and the Facebook/Twitter feeds.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GameFAQs Welcomes Community Manager Stephanie Barnes to the Team! - GameFAQs Announcements Message Board - GameFAQs |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/6-gamefaqs-announcements/70012465 |access-date=8 October 2014 |archive-date=10 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210180154/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/6-gamefaqs-announcements/70012465 |url-status=live }}</ref> As of July 2015, Barnes was no longer part of the team.<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 July 2015 |title=Krystal's Gone, and I'm Actually Sad to See Her Go |url=http://gamefaqscensorship.blogspot.com/2015/07/krystals-gone-and-im-actually-sad-to.html |access-date=24 April 2019 |via=] |archive-date=24 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424165241/http://gamefaqscensorship.blogspot.com/2015/07/krystals-gone-and-im-actually-sad-to.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
Allen "SBAllen" Tyner stepped down from his lead admin position in October 18, 2023.<ref name="Stepping down as admin"/> The site is currently run by Community Manager "DToast", who is the lead board admin, and Contributor Lead "ZoopSoul", who moderates data and guide submissions.<ref name="gamefaqs.gamespot.com"/>


GameFAQs' moderators are volunteer users selected by the administrator and are responsible for keeping order within the message board community. Because of the size of the boards, the moderators do not patrol every board and topic. Instead, messages that break the site's ] can be "]" by regular users, which brings them to the attention of the moderators.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rules and Standards |url=http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/help/?cat=19 |access-date=2006-09-20 |website=GameFAQs |archive-date=2007-09-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929125140/http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/help/?cat=19 |url-status=live }}</ref>
*'''War on Terrorism''' was created soon after ] to discuss the ] and related conflicts like the ]. However, it has quickly evolved into a massive political debate forum ranging from subjects spaning the wide perimeter of the American social and economic scene.


== References ==
*'''810-820 Boards''' were created a few days after ]. Originally, CJayC posted on the Icon board (1000 karma requirement) on April Fools Day about making private boards for the first few icons that signed up. Many thought it an April Fool's joke until these boards were actually created. The few people that received these boards also are allowed to name them. So far, the ones that have been named are: 810 (Mostly Harmless), 813 (Unnatural Selection), 814 (The Upper Room), 816 (#showarr), 818 (KGB), 819 (CE Reloaded), and 820 (Hacked). In order to access these boards, the founders must send an invite.
{{Reflist|30em}}


== External links ==
*'''Secret Boards''' are game boards where off-topic posting is allowed. This is generally because the systems the games belong to have become so antiquated and obsolete that very little genuine discussion would otherwise take place on them. Many GameFAQsers have adopted some of these boards for their own use. The systems whose game boards are secret boards are found in the .
* {{Official website}}


{{Fandom, Inc.}}
===Jargon===
{{Red Ventures}}
This is a short list of ] used largely on GameFAQs.
{{Portal bar|Internet|Video games}}


]
*'''Autoflagged word''' - Words that have been abused but still have legitimate means. In that case, the word when posted is sent to the mod queue for revision. Autoflagged words are not allowed in topic titles.
]
*'''KOS''' ('''Kill on Sight''') - This is a rare but extremely bad punishment one can receive on GameFAQS. When one has been KOSed, they are not allowed to reveal their identity otherwise they'll be banned with no questions asked. KOS orders peaked in the 2002-2003 period and currently, one user has a KOS order on him/her.
]
*'''MIASU''' ('''Mark it and shut up''') - Polite Message Board Help (MBH) users asked users to wait 24 hours after marking a message to complain. Less polite members bluntly told them to MIASU (Mark it and Shut Up). It grew in popularity, but is now moderated for trolling (inciting flames).
]
*'''LUEsers''' - Describes people who go to and frequent LUE. It is pronounced the same way "loser" is, leaving some users to chuckle at the unintended pun.
]
*'''Karma''' - A number representing a user's status on the message boards. Each day that a user logs in and has at least one active post earns him/her one point of Karma. Higher Karma unlocks additional board features and higher posting limits. Once a user reaches 75 Karma, he/she becomes a "Regular User" with no posting restrictions, but some boards are restricted to higher-level users.
]
*'''LUEicide''' - Term used for account suicide by a LUEser. It was popularized on March 4, 2003, when the infamous "Black LUEsday" occurred. LUEicide is an autoflagged word.
]
*'''LUEshi''' - An ] of ] riding ]. LUEshi quickly became one of the largest fads on GameFAQs, and posting it outside of designated ASCII topics was considered a serious TOS violation. It epitomized disobidence and defiance and punishments went from lenient to harsh. As of now, it is considered as regular ASCII and thus moderated only when disruptive (aka not in ASCII topics).
]

]
===Spinoff/clone boards===
]

]
Many people have created their own sites based upon the GameFAQs look and feel. Most of these simply copy the GameFAQs boards; these are commonly referred to as GameFAQs spinoffs. Some go further, not only emulating GameFAQs' contribution systems as well, but adding new features and options (such as topic views and board currencies).

In ], Chuck "NeoGenesis" Sakoda created GameFAQs Hell, the first spinoff. His first attempt at cloning the boards was performed in ] and MS Access database services. Yet despite being the first, it did not truly emulate or appear to look like GameFAQs. It was also exploit-ridden and had holes in it, eventually becoming unusable in its present state. After giving up on that source, he made a new version in ] and ]. He released the source code under the GNU ]. It has been confirmed by CJayC that he had a link to GameFAQs Hell in the board help section for promotion of the source.

Later that year, counteray developed Mediarchive, the first real spinoff that actually looked like GameFAQs. But counteray soon ran into problems and had to shut down MA. But before going out, counteray leaked the source out. This initialized a major shift in the spinoff world. Before, anybody who wanted to run a spinoff had to have a solid knowledge of ], MySQL, and coding. With counteray's MA source, anybody with minimal knowledge could start up a spinoff. This in turn led to real spinoff coders hacking and exploiting leaks in MA's code to shut down spinoffs. Eventually, most spinoffs fell due to these attacks and assaults.

] was also marked by the startup of the two most popular spinoffs that still survive to this day, (August) and (September). But ] was when the real spinoff age took off, with Darkside Legion, girlgamer, Junkieznat, CABLE, and many more spinoffs beginning to rise. The climax of 2003 was marked by the start-up of LUE2, a spinoff that galvanized the entire spinoff scene. It registered more users, posts, and topics in three days than most GameFAQs imitations did in a month. Its abrupt crash was just as monumental which, due to the diaspora of users searching for a new home, led to a very active and populous spinoff community. Many people call 2003 the "golden age" of spinoffs.

A large former spinoff, Darkside Legion, was a banned word ("darksidelegion") at GameFAQs after receiving a notorious reputation. Its members were said to contact unsuspecting people on AIM and persuade them to give their passwords away. It was also suspected as the place where KOS'd people would go to plan their flooding attacks on GameFAQs. Their actions led to the security measured rolled out in July 2003. Nine months later, EvilPrimate, one of the owners, finally convinced CJayC to unban the word (since DSL was gone).

Now however, the pastime is starting to slowly crumble. The majority of boards have either been shut down or hacked or both, and almost all of the remaining spinoffs have sunk in popularity. There are still some popular spinoffs, as well as a few new ones, but for the most part, the golden age has come to a close.

Anthony P's page, as well as a few message board sources, provide lists of spinoffs. There is also another user-submitted list at . contains an archived spinoff board listing for historic purposes.

==See also==
*]
*]
*]
*]

==External links==

===Official sites===

*
*
*
*

===Unofficial sites===

* '''WARNING!''' This site contains offensive material. It is maintained by Insder and Roaddhogg. The GFA is a collection of saved humourous, interesting, and noteworthy topics and messages posted originally on the GameFAQs message boards themselves throughout their illustrious history from 1999 to 2005. On Febuary 10, they opened up "", the latest spinoff.
* A site dedicated to the glitches and exploits in the GameFAQs code.
* Info on the site, boards, fads. Contains pictures, ASCII, topics and more.
* GameFAQs IRC Network
* Created by xtremegamer99, this site is to help petition creators at to better mantain their petitions. With over 100 petitions in just under three months, this site is a definite big hit in Site Suggestions.
*
* Made by moderator Crono Lvl 99, this is similar to the photo albums. The site is dead at this stage.
* - KSOT's Secondary Boards FAQ is recognized by many users as a comprehensive guide to the features and works of the GameFAQs message boards, answering questions and giving factual information that cannot be already found in the Help Files. In January 2005, KSOT turned over the site to TrueDFX, who now mantains it.
* - A site devoted to covering the GameFAQs contests
* Site where LUEsers can share (usually banned) links.
*] article on

===GameFAQs board histories===
* is an un-offical ].
* - A site that has an accurate recollection of what has happened on LUE from the beginning to the ExcLUEsion.
*. A bit like the History of LUE, but this focuses on what happened in the early days of Random Insanity, including the Gamequeen incident.
*
*.


]

]
]

Latest revision as of 12:39, 30 December 2024

Video game website
GameFAQs
The word "GameFAQs" in white lettering on a blue background
Screenshot GameFAQs home page on September 6, 2014Screenshot of the GameFAQs home page, as it appeared on May 20, 2023
Type of siteGaming
Available inEnglish
OwnerFandom, Inc.
Created byJeff "CJayC" Veasey
URLgamefaqs.gamespot.com
IPv6 supportNo
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional, but is required for contributing content and posting on the message boards
LaunchedNovember 5, 1995; 29 years ago (1995-11-05) (as Video Game FAQ Archive)
Current statusActive
Written inPHP

GameFAQs is a video gaming website that hosts guides and other resources, as well as an active message board forum. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff Veasey and has been owned by Fandom, Inc. since October 2022. Allen "SBAllen" Tyner was lead Admin for twenty years until stepping down on October 18, 2023. The site is currently run by Community Manager "DToast" and Contributor Lead "ZoopSoul".

The site has a database of video game information, walkthroughs, FAQs, cheat codes, reviews, game saves, box art images, and screenshots, almost all of which are submitted by volunteer contributors. It covers game systems made as far back as the 1980s to current day modern consoles as well as computer games and mobile games. GameFAQs also hosts an active message board community, which has a separate discussion board for each game in the site's database, along with a variety of other boards. GameFAQs has run daily opinion polls and tournament contests, as well as annual Character Battles, since November 30, 1999.

GameFAQs has been positively reviewed by The Guardian, The Canadian Press, and Entertainment Weekly. In 2009, GameFAQs.com was one of the 300 highest-trafficked English-language websites according to Alexa.

History

This section needs expansion with: Any activity after 2007, any other info in relevant years prior. You can help by adding to it. (July 2012)

GameFAQs was started as the Video Game FAQ Archive on November 5, 1995, by gamer and programmer Jeff Veasey. The site was created to bring numerous online guides and FAQs from across the internet into one centralized location. Hosted on America Online (AOL), it originally served as a mirror of Andy Eddy's FTP FAQ archive. The initial version of the site had approximately 10 pages and 100 FAQs. In 1996, the site moved to gamefaqs.com and changed its name to GameFAQs. At this time, GameFAQs listed fewer than 1000 FAQs and guides and was updated on an irregular basis.

During the following months, the site grew in content and in design; two different styles were introduced in early 1997 to accommodate the support of tables in web browsers (or the lack thereof). Two key features of the site—the game search engine and the contributor recognition pages—were planned at this time.

On February 6, 2018, the site changed its domain from gamefaqs.com to gamefaqs.gamespot.com, due to CNET (owner of GameSpot) acquiring GameFAQs, and integrating GameFAQs into the GameSpot network. The link gamefaqs.com now redirects to gamefaqs.gamespot.com as a result.

IGN affiliation

In 1997, GameFAQs became an independent affiliate of the Imagine Games Network (IGN), leading to the placement of affiliate links on the home page. User contests were introduced during this period; the first monthly contest, which was held in 1998, received 253 entries. GameFAQs went through several design changes, including a pink color scheme, before arriving at the blue-colored layout that was used until 2004.

In November 1999, several changes occurred in rapid succession. A search box was added to every page on November 5, the site’s fourth anniversary. On November 7, the message boards opened in a beta testing mode. The "Poll of the Day" was introduced at the end of the month. These changes marked Veasey's increased concentration on the site, and it was around this time that GameFAQs became his full-time job. Until this time, he had been working as a programmer. On August 9, 2000, the site received one million hits in a single day for the first time. By 2001, the "GameFAQs Chat" (an IRC chat server) had been launched; however, it was removed in May 2001 due to administrative issues.

Post-IGN

On January 9, 2001, GameFAQs ended its association with IGN. To continue generating revenue, an advertising banner sold to non-profit organizations was placed on the top of each page. This lasted until CNET Networks became an official affiliate of GameFAQs; CNET ads ran on the top of the page, and links to news articles from GameSpot were shown on the home page. In September 2002, the ad was moved from the horizontal header to the vertical sidebar. This led to changes to the links on the side, as well as the creation of navigational links at the top of the screen. Contributions to GameFAQs continued to increase, and Veasey, as sole operator and administrator of the site, dedicated significant portions of his time to ensure that GameFAQs remained updated and successful.

On April 1, 2002, Veasey changed GameFAQs to "GameFAX" as an April Fools' joke. The site's colors were changed to green and black to imitate those of the Xbox, with the intention of making users believe that GameFAQs was now dedicated solely to the Xbox, "the only system that matters." After clicking on any link on the main page, users were directed to the real GameFAQs home page. Nevertheless, Veasey reported receiving hate mail from users.

On March 2, 2002, Veasey participated in a radio interview with WXBH AM-1190 on their program called "The Gaming Files." During this interview, Veasey was drilled with questions from current and former users of GameFAQs; he also discussed his time on GameFAQs and how the site came to be.

CNET acquisition

A building with a glass and brick facade. Tall buildings are visible in the background.
CNET Networks headquarters in San Francisco, California

On May 6, 2003, CNET Networks (the site's long-standing affiliate and sponsor) acquired GameFAQs. The amount paid for GameFAQs and two other unrelated websites was US$2.2 million. On June 3, 2003, Veasey announced the merger to the users of the site. He clarified that the user-submitted content (i.e., FAQs and reviews) remained under the ownership of the authors and was not (nor could be) sold to CNET; however, CNET acquired GameFAQs' rights to host them on the site. He assured users that GameFAQs would undergo no major administrative change and said, "The GameFAQs you see today is the one you'll see tomorrow." This was true to a certain extent, as the only visible change over the next few months was the addition of a CNET footer to the bottom of every page. Additional changes included moving the site to servers in California.

From 2004 to 2006, GameFAQs witnessed further changes. On April 28, 2004, GameFAQs implemented a large visual redesign, and the boards merged with the GameSpot boards to allow both communities to share the same game-specific boards (to the dismay of many GameFAQs users). To facilitate the merger, GameFAQs converted its board code from ASP to PHP, and GameSpot dropped its Lithium code. On April 11, 2006, a new design was implemented, and the GameSpot logo was added to the GameFAQs logo on the header of every page. This change was initially greeted with general disapproval by users on the message boards. To satisfy those who prefer the earlier layout, the old board pages have been preserved for certain users. Shortly after the redesign, the site began using the Smarty template engine.

Veasey's departure

On July 19, 2007, Veasey announced that he would eventually be leaving the site. According to his announcement, Allen Tyner, who had been employed with the site since 2004, would take over as editor and administrator of GameFAQs.

Red Ventures acquisition

Red Ventures acquired various properties, including GameFAQs and GameSpot, from ViacomCBS in 2020.

Fandom acquisition

Fandom acquired various properties, including GameFAQs and GameSpot, from Red Ventures in October 2022.

Content

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Growth of FAQs hosted (1995-2012)

All of the guides and walkthroughs on GameFAQs are contributed by volunteers. Most of the FAQs are not actually lists of frequently asked questions; instead, they cover aspects of gameplay in the same way as strategy guides, with walkthroughs, item lists, maps, and puzzle solutions. Nearly all of the FAQs hosted on the site are in plain text, though GameFAQs does also accept stand-alone images, such as maps, diagrams, and puzzle solutions. From December 2009, formatted guides which allow authors to use mark-up loosely based on Wiki markup in the document were being accepted. In addition to FAQs, contributors can also submit reader reviews, cheat codes, developer credits, game release data, game saves, screenshots, and images of game boxes. In 2006, the site hosted over 36,000 guides. By February 2009, over 49,000 guides were hosted on the site and over 113,194 reviews. As of 2012, this had increased to over 56,000 guides for 21,639 unique games.

When an author submits something to GameFAQs, it is screened by an administrator before being posted on the site. The author retains the copyright on the submitted material, and their name is added to the site's "Contributor Recognition" section. GameFAQs agrees to host the guide only on their servers but does allow other affiliates to link directly to the guides (including GameSpot, Yahoo! Games, AOL, and GameFly).

GameFAQs features several ongoing contributor contests, including FAQ of the Month, Review of the Month, and numerous "FAQ Bounties," which reward contributors who submit FAQs for uncovered, high-demand games. The FOTM and ROTM contests are generally picked from comprehensive, complete guides or reviews for new games. Winners are sent a gift certificate for an online retailer or can opt for a mailed gift card upon contest entry.

In 2004, Future Network USA published two commercial strategy guides with material from GameFAQs: The Ultimate Xbox Strategy Guide and The Ultimate PS2 Strategy Guide. These guides were composed of FAQs written by contributors on GameFAQs.

Message boards

Every game listed on GameFAQs has its own message board, where both novice and experienced gamers can discuss game strategies and other game-related topics. After the redesign of May 2004, the game boards with enforced topicality were shared with the GameSpot community (another CBS Interactive website). Certain popular games may have additional boards for social discussion. Game-specific boards for certain older consoles do not have topicality rules and are often claimed for social discussion—these are referred to as "secret" or "dead" boards. Every system also has a general board for discussing hardware and upcoming games.

GameFAQs has boards made purely for the purpose of socializing, some that cater to special interests (such as Anime, TV, Music, and Pro Wrestling), and some purely for users from a particular region (e.g., United Kingdom, Australia/New Zealand). GameFAQs also has boards for official announcements, contributor discussion, contest discussion, suggestions, and site help.

The custom-made GameFAQs Message Boards coded by Veasey began operation on November 7, 1999. Although the original purpose of the board system was to facilitate game discussion, other board categories have been added since the boards opened. Every day, approximately 20,000 topics and 200,000 messages are posted on GameFAQs' 60,000+ individual boards, and on November 7, 2006, there were more than 100,000 accounts actively in use. During October 2009, there was an average of 84,853 unique logins a day.

On March 23, 2012, it was announced the GameFAQs and GameSpot will once again start to separate content. On May 7, 2012, the shared GameFAQs-run message boards went read-only on GameSpot.

Features

Posts made on the message boards are mostly plain text. Some HTML mark-up is used on the boards, including bold and italics tags. The forums use a wordfilter to prevent the use of certain vulgar words, which is intended to keep the forum safe for all readers. On some boards, topics that have no new posts for a period of time are removed permanently or are locked and archived.

GameFAQs users gain one "karma" for every day they visit the boards while logged in. As karma increases, new features become available, such as the ability to post more messages per day, edit posts, and send private messages. Users can add favorite boards to a personalized list on the main boards page and can track specific topics (a feature added in 2006).

Moderators

The message boards are managed by the site's administrators and moderators. Initially, Veasey was the only administrator and therefore had full control over the boards; however, more administrators have since been appointed. Tyner, who uses the username "SBAllen" (formerly "Sailor Bacon"), was the main administrator on the boards until 2023. On May 7, 2012, Tyner announced long-time moderator Devin Morgan had been hired as another administrator; his primary role was to work on the code of the site. On September 5, 2014, Tyner also announced that long time user Stephanie Barnes (under the username Krystal109) had been hired as the site's Community Manager, which included duties such as running the site's contests and the Facebook/Twitter feeds. As of July 2015, Barnes was no longer part of the team. Allen "SBAllen" Tyner stepped down from his lead admin position in October 18, 2023. The site is currently run by Community Manager "DToast", who is the lead board admin, and Contributor Lead "ZoopSoul", who moderates data and guide submissions.

GameFAQs' moderators are volunteer users selected by the administrator and are responsible for keeping order within the message board community. Because of the size of the boards, the moderators do not patrol every board and topic. Instead, messages that break the site's Terms of Service can be "marked" by regular users, which brings them to the attention of the moderators.

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