Fuzzy Dates need to be applied more effectively.

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vigorousjammer

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#1  Edited By vigorousjammer

One thing that still constantly bothers me about the site is when we have fuzzy dates applied to older games, and they still show up at the top of the list on any given page it's attached to.
 
If there's a fuzzy date that says "november 1994" it should be underneath a 2008 release that has a specific date like 11/4/2008.
 
I just feel like this would make everything more organized.

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KamasamaK

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#2  Edited By KamasamaK

I agree. Just because the known time of release is less precise doesn't mean it should be treated exactly as if there was no release time at all. Furthermore, the way months and quarters are separate drop-downs doesn't make sense -- they should be combined. And since the topic has been raised, I've found that seasons are often used in announcing an expected release, so it would be nice if those were added too (with the context of which hemisphere is being used).

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LordAndrew

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#3  Edited By LordAndrew
@Kamasama: Those could be roughly converted to quarters though, could they not?
 
Oh, and another unfortunate thing about fuzzy dates is that company pages don't make use of them. How many companies actually tell you the exact date they were founded? Not many. Most give a month and year, or just a year. Fuzzy dates would solve that problem nicely.
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KamasamaK

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#4  Edited By KamasamaK
@LordAndrew:  Why should rough conversion be necessary? The dates should reflect what is officially announced.
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LordAndrew

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#5  Edited By LordAndrew
@Kamasama: The officially announced dates aren't always useful. If a company states that it will be released "when it's done", what use is that? If the publisher states that a game will be released "in the fall" or "in 2010 or maybe 2011" or "whenever we feel like it", find a way to work that into the article. Adding more vague options doesn't help, especially when we already have a choice of four quarters that can be used for seasons. It's useful information, but not useful data.
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jeff

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#6  Edited By jeff

You're right. I would love to get date-sorted lists sorting more effectively with this stuff. Hopefully we can get it in there sooner rather than later.

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TheMustacheHero

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#7  Edited By TheMustacheHero

 As you can see Dates have a glossy outside, if your dates are getting fuzzy I would suggest throwing them out.
 As you can see Dates have a glossy outside, if your dates are getting fuzzy I would suggest throwing them out.
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KamasamaK

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#8  Edited By KamasamaK
@LordAndrew:  They may not always be correct, but they are just as useful any other announcement. We should provide the best known information at that time, even if it is fuzzy (though no more so than quarters). Although arguing over whether it's useful is pointless since the entry already exists -- I'm just asking for expanded options. Saying "when it's done" is not an officially announced date and should be treated as such by leaving the entry blank or possibly using "TBA". I don't see how adding more options wouldn't help, but I admit it isn't necessary; I was thinking it was more of a "nice to have".
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Eep

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#9  Edited By Eep

Fuzzy dates need to go before 1975 too! I had to put 01/01/1959 for an "exact" date in Mouse in the Maze. :/

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mike

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#10  Edited By mike

This thread can be closed since this is on the list of things to do.