N4G User Survey

Now that the new site has been online for a while we are ready to start working on fixing some of the issues and problems that so far have been reported. There seems to be many different opinions about what N4G should be and what direction the site should take. To help us get a better understanding of what our readers think about the site, and what changes we should consider making we have put together this short user survey. Click the read more link to start the survey. Thank you for your help with making N4G a better place!

[D4RkNIKON]

I like N4G but if I could change anything it would be..

-Bring back the open zone, things were more simple when certain fanboys were banished to the open zone.
-No more "Top 10 ______" articles..

[Danteh]

N4G is awesome

Edit: but people like Conloles need to be banned, he's worse than xbox fanboys :P

[nikkisixx2]

yeah if you like flame bait, fanboys, opinion articles, and constant article duplicates.

[Rot_in_Fail]

I want people with 1 bubble to have comment hidden by default, they get up 40, 50 disagrees, and they're happy about it .

[Cold 2000]

There is no need for the open zone. On the old N4G there was almost no difference between the open zone and the so called "gamer zone" so might as well just make it one zone.

Oh and maybe get rid of the "agree/disagree" system too. It will make the PS3 fanboys feel a whole lot less "powerful" all of a sudden in the little lost and disconnected planet that N4G is.

edit: sikbeta below nailed it. The open zone was for comedy and the gamer zone was for trolling.

[ThatCanadianGuy]

I think Conloles should be allowed to post.Mark my words, his constant console bashing B.S will eventually unite the PS3 & 360 fanboys together against PC fanboys.

As was foretold in the prophecy.

[sikbeta]

N4G is Great the way it is now, Open Zone was hilarious, but trølls keep trolling on the "gamer" zone, so it was pointless

In the "new" site they also learned how to stealth-troll in all the articles and 70% of time all of us end up in a huge flame-war no matter what

Just Don't ERASE the comments, hide them and gives us the chance to POWN those douches :P

[HolyOrangeCows]

Get rid of the people who talk about fanboys in EVERY FREAKING ONE OF THEIR POSTS. They get really old and fast.
If you don't like the community here, just leave.

Bring back the old bubbles system. Mods take too much control in the matter of the new one. I've gotten so many "Well said"s and "helpful"s and only the highly occasional "trolling" (From the mods, not the users seeing as many of my comments with NO disagrees and SEVERAL agrees get labeled that way). And yet, I have a mere 2 bubbles. Why should that be when 90% of N4G's community agrees with the things I say?

"edit: holyorangecows, so are you saying that you would rather read what gets wrote by the fanboys??? incredible!"
Not at all what I said.

Edit: No surprise that THIS post gets a bunch of disagrees. This type of article is a hotbed for people who complain about N4G's community and still take part in it as if they have guns to their heads.

[D4RkNIKON]

@Cold... Please leave.. Just leave and make us all happy.

[ZombieAutopsy]

Open zone just needs to be brought back, only so people can be banned to it. Also i think only 1 account per IP address can be made per month to keep multi account trolls away, either have more bubbles to start with or make it easier to get them.

I also agree with most people opinion that if you agree of disagree you should have to state why.

[Information Minister]

That makes perfect sense, seeing as you used to get banned to the Open Zone all the time. I completely understand why you don't want it back.

And there's nothing wrong with the "agree/disagree" system. If your a 360 fanboy, then stay away from the PS3 channel and those bubbles and agrees will surely start piling up.

[Applegate]

If you're a 360 fanboy stay away from PS3 threads AND 360 threads because ironically that's where most of the PS3 community on this site is.

[sikbeta]

@Information M

I have nothing against the Agree/Disagree system, but IMO it'd be better if it's changed for Thumb-up/thumb-down or rate the comments by points +1/-1

O-T

Another thing I think it's bad is the comment system, the limitation of comments is wrong, I think people must have the option to reply and post all the times they want and not based on the amount of bubbles they have

the bubble system as a "way" to prevent trølls doesn't work either, with [1] bubble they keep being annoying-douches -> [conloles/8800gt/greenR]

Just restrict the replies of anyone based on the first comment, i.e first comment = Trølling -> you can't reply anymore... and don't block the comments flagged, let us POWN those douches :)

[Christopher]

***Get rid of the people who talk about fanboys in EVERY FREAKING ONE OF THEIR POSTS. They get really old and fast. ***

I 100% support this statement. They're just as bad as fanboys.

Things like "incoming fanboy war in 321" or "You're going to get torn up by PS3 fanboys" or "SDF is in full force today" add just as much to the debate as fanboys and trolls, which is none at all.

@conloles: The point is to generate a system that identifies those who are /ignored by many because of their posting style and weeding them out through another system so that new posters and old posters alike don't have to bother with having to keep you on /ignore, which then leads to those who may replay to the same topic being hidden because they replied to your statement. Based on your many "can't do 1080p" responses, you add nothing to the debate and I therefore agree that you should be delegated to an Open Zone.

[nix]

there r some news which keeps coming (repeats with slight changes) every time n r not worth going thru discussion but it used to be fun reading comments in the open zone.

figure out the bubble system. i mean there r spammers who list site urls for shoes, blankets etc who's got 4-5 bubbles.

dont change anything code-wise, it now works well with my PS3 browser (thats how i am commenting now).

show the topic as 'multi' if the news covers more than 1 system in FP.

when we visit sites like tech spy etc... make it so that we dont have to log in again.

no more 'news' from blogspots n blog sites. even if it is an opinion. let them use the N4G blog section if they have to.

[XactGamer]

This ^^^ is your problem N4G. Biased or fanboy comments are fine to a point but many of the above and below spam or make comments that are off topic.

For example in anything Kinect related you have PS3 fanboys shouting MOVE MOVE MOVE. Same goes with anything Killzone related you see alot of Killzone will never be as big as Halo.

It's always the same people who camp out to bash and troll and when their bubbles are gone they just start another account. We all know who the new accounts are, writing styles are like fingerprints.

This site needs some balance, I hate to pick on one side but the PS3 fanboys here camp anything 360 related. These guys sit in the pending section making sure that their fanboy crap takes the first 20 comments.

My platform of choice is PC and have made many biased PC comments but I always stay on topic. I own all consoles and admit I do like some more than the others but I play them all, thats what I bought them for.

As a PC fan I can sit back and observe who is the worst of the bunch. PS3 fanboys you guys outnumber all other fanboys here 5 to 1 and you guys spend more time in the 360 section than the PS3.

IMO I think comments for news or articles in the pending section should be removed until it's approved.

[Mmmkay]

Damn. I just played a 1080p game on my Ps3. Trolling again are you? And still not banned? Yeah, something needs to get done to the system.

[Jinxstar]

I personally just feel like when I hit the strict button I shouldn't be seeing no name blogs, HHG and "Top 5 breasts in JRPS". Thats all I would change really. And maybe moderate better.

[Natsu X FairyTail]

Ban all the sony fanburrlssssss

lmao jk

oh and The Biased sh1t needs to go aswell. Yall cant be a mod and Not delete a PS3 fanboy making a joke about RroD,kinect, or some other xbox default but when we make a joke about PS3 our thing is Deleted and marked as trolling.
ole biased mofos

Bring back Open zone maybe?

[Darkstorn]

I used to have 7 bubbles on the old N4G, now I'm down to 3. And a good number of people have given me comments detailing their intent to give me 'bubs.' I don't think I've been bubbled down so much as to actually offset all the positive feedback I've received.

The new bubble system is just archaic. Give us more options for discussion!

[Anon1974]

There needs to be a ban on multiple accounts. Too often users have been blocked/banned/stripped of bubbles only to resurrect their account again to be blocked/banned/stripped - then they repeat. Bans need to be done with IP addresses.

Also, the vindicative nature of some on this site needs to be dealt with. I happily had 8 bubbles back a year ago. After a sudden attack the was precipitated by a rush of hate mail to my PM box, all my bubbles were stripped and every single article I posted to the community was falsely reported. There were a few times when moderators had intervene, but often by the time they did the news was old. When N4G reset, the exact same thing happened again. I was happily posting and suddenly I get 5 hate mail messages in one day (you suck sony ****, you need to die, etc). My bubbles were gone within a week, just like last time.

I know it's just a few bad apples, but users should be able to have some recourse when they're being targeted by other users. Even though you can block people from PM'ing, the harassment never stops there. That type of harassment should be dealt with by permanent IP ban.

I disagree that users with one bubbles should be automatically hidden. Not just because I'm perpetually held down by one bubble, but because I've read so many intelligent and legitimate comments from people with one bubble who's posting history obviously doesn't warrant their one bubble status. If you must, bring back the Open Zone so constant trolls can once again return to under their bridges instead of one bubble victims of fanboy censorship. Take secksi-killer, for example. When every third post sees you rallying against "sony fanturds" you serious have to ask, why is this guy allowed to continue to post? Do you see any intelligent debate? Do you see legitimate contribution to the topic at hand? How is that adding in any way to the N4G community? Just one example that springs immediately to mind.

Also, contributers need to be cleaned up. Those who repeatedly and falsely report articles need to be stripped of their ability to make decisions on this site. As do those who continually post stories of low quality. There needs to be a way to limit of these people to shape content on N4G.

Edit: Oh, and if you disagree, you should be forced to leave a comment. Any monkey can simply jam the disagree button - but it does zero to enhance debate on the site. Agrees, I don't mind - but if you disagree you should at least man up and explain why.

[blackbeld]

N4G could be more better with the bubble system.

Like when you get agree's automatic you will get bubbles up. Or when you got disagree's you will get automatic bubbles down.

[arakouftaian]

im tired of fake articles been aproved by fanboys just to fight

[Commander_TK]

U can barely have a decent discussion with people on here. They´re all hypocrites & fanboys. Although it´s to nice some cool guys on here (Alpha-Male22 & Saiyanfury, just to name a few).

[pustulio]

No more german site articles!
No more german site articles!

Ban videogamezone.de and the other one from being posted here, they usually create flamebait articles and retarded titles like Halo: Reach wipes the floor with Kz3...

[rockleex]

I still only have THREE bubbles!

That's more than enough for me.

But it seems like the bubble system is not recognizing me for some odd reason.

I haven't gained or lost any bubbles at all ever since the new N4G came into place. O_o

And I usually get plenty more agrees than disagrees on each comment I make. I know agrees and disagrees don't necessarily mean they bubble you up or down.

But after all my comments throughout these few months, and yet no results have shown?

[Dee_91]

i just get tired of seeing everybody gettin called fanboys
xbox and ps3

[Megaton]

Customized personal source blocking, trollbans, approval/submission privileges stripped from people who push garbage through pending, no blogs allowed, show who disagreed/agreed with comments, ????, profit.

[commodore64]

The bubble system is broken... it has been broken for too long and each time it gets revamped, it gets abused again.

It gets abused in several ways.

1. Multiple accounts - adding bubbles, or vindictively reducing bubbles inappropriately.
2. PS3 user bias - as there are many more ps3 fans that frequent here, most 360 fans have been vindictively reduced to 1 or two bubbles, while PS3 trolls seem to be bubbled up by their plentiful brethren, with no regard for the quality of their comments.

I am happy for all users to say whatever they like. This is an open community, after all and we each have a right to voice our opinion, no matter how hard other disagree with it. If a particular user becomes too annoying, we each have the option of blocking them. Perfect.

However, the bubble system is another matter, as it allows this open-ness to be abused.
It is based on the idea that users are rational and fair in their allocation of bubbles.
Of course we all know, trolls and fanboys are anything but rational and fair. Fanboys and trolls simply bubble up their buddies, or those that disagree mindlessly with their opinion, while debubbling anyone who has an opposing viewpoint, no matter how logical and true that viewpoint is.
Thus, the bubble system is great in theory, but broken in practice.
Needs fixing. Or get rid of it altogether.

[JD_Shadow]

commodore, why is it that every single time we talk about this, we only talk about the PS3 fanboys as if they are the only ones who have ever committed anything bad on this site. That's part of the problem that we have to kill before we can get anywhere: stop thinking that one side of fanboys is somehow worse than the others. And, like I said before, the thing of projection (where you're faults are the faults of others, and you're completely innocent of behavior you claim the other side of always doing).

Can I also ask why MY previous comment was "off-topic"? That is exactly what I'm talking about: the act of making people afraid to even POST their opinions and playing politics on the site needs to be addressed first.

[Christopher]

@commodore64: If they did away with the bubble system, they would need to implement some way of ignoring users without also ignoring anyone who replied to one of their posts.

***PS3 user bias - as there are many more ps3 fans that frequent here, most 360 fans have been vindictively reduced to 1 or two bubbles, while PS3 trolls seem to be bubbled up by their plentiful brethren, with no regard for the quality of their comments.***

Easy to say such things from a bias perspective. I've noticed that the most notable fanboys on both sides are down to 1 bubble. I've also noticed that there are fanboys on both sides who aren't as annoying that have more than 3 bubbles.

The point is that the people who get hurt the most here are those who want to express an opinion that isn't about putting down one console over another and yet that's the way it looks when you praise one game over another here no matter what. They get hurt by the people who really just shouldn't be here because all they want to do is post one-line fanboy remarks rather than participate in constructive conversations.

@darkpower: your comments are off topic because you're only talking about fanboys and the type and quantity that are here and not the commenting/bubble system and its relationship to fanboys/trolls/etc., which is the primary discussion. We know what fanboys there are here, that's why this conversation is being held. You don't need to somehow fight for the fact that certain fanboys are worse or just as bad as others in this topic.

[nikkisixx2]

*hacks the internet*
*photoshops the article picture*
*checks the "poor" box*

[KingME]

I think that whenever some clicks disagree they should be required to type in a rebuttal to reduce the phantom disagrees.

[CrawFail]

But then new users would have all of their comments hidden, which wouldn't be very fair.

[Christopher]

I believe new users actually start with 3 bubbles.

[EvilBlackCat]

1) JUST keep everybody with 2 bubbles to comment and 7 to reply.

2) If anybody disagree must leave a comment of why he disagree and the avatar name needs to be know.

3)Force everybody to select between: Gamer / PC Gamer / PS3 Gamer / Xbox Gamer / Nintendo Gamer for their ID. That way i will know if that comment is coming from a bias gamer. For example I am a Gamer and if i leave a comment on a PS or Xbox side nobody can have the excuse of "oh you are a bias xbox or oh you are a bias PS etc."

Also this will be cool for those who are bias toward an especific console for EXAMPLE PS3 fans get an extra bubble to comment and an extra reply bubble to comment too on PS3 related news. (read #1)

FOR EXAMPLE right now i have 2 disagrees but the damn cowards dont show the damn reason why.

-EDIT

@Baka-akaB (BELOW)
"hum what of people that have all , and dont feel like filling any kind of tag anyway ?"

THEN you are a gamer.

BY THE WAY... NO OPEN ZONE just leave same zone for everybody and treat everybody same way.

FOR EXAMPLE if somebody call me stupid I CAN DO IT TOO.

[Baka-akaB]

hum what of people that have all , and dont feel like filling any kind of tag anyway ?

[Sez]

I agree with that point you made about if someone disagree with the poster they have to leave a reason or it's not counted. Samething with adding and taking of bubbles. Too many people are taking bubbles from people because they either don't support your console or someone is butthurt about a comment and people getting there panties in a bunch.

[sikbeta]

Disagree number [10]

User: sikbeta
PS3 Gamer

Reply:

1· I don't care about bubbles, I'll like to reply/comment many times I want IF I'm not trølling or spamming

2·It's impractical and make you lose time, for example -> dude trolling -> you want to disagree but you need to leave a comment = you made a lame comment like "shut up trøll" or something similar, also you can't Force someone to reply if he doesn't want

3·doesn't make sense, you give "privileges" to the ones who selected "Gamer", so, everyone will chose "Gamer", especially Trølls...

[Dee_91]

i have yet to get an psn from you ..

[Systematrix]

I'll give you vote for another bubble for the good suggestions.

[hatchimatchi]

yea i wish the open zone was back as well, i used to love going in there and seeing the RAAAAAAAAGE from all the fanboys. It provided some great laughs.

My thing is, wtf happened to the bubble system, it seems like no one is above 3. I used to have 9, and they were legitimately earned.

[Otheros00]

http://n4g.com/comments/red...

[TheBatman_Fanatic]

Exactly! I am so sick of these "Top 10" articles! There is too many and we could have news that is actually about what is going on in the gaming industry.

[Redgehammer]

bring back the open zone and the reimplement the profainity filter in the gamer zone. Maybe a Wall of Shame or something for people that specialize in personal attacks and blatant hostile fanboyishness. a Troll of the week/month moniker which automatically drops someone to 0 bubbles for the period of their reign. Concordantly, there could be a gamer of the week/ month which grants that gamer 10 bubbles for the duration of the title.

PLEASE fix the comments posting in the wrong thread. For Example this response was supposed to be to D4RkNIKON first post, and yet it gave me my own thread that could be replied to.

[R2D2]

make the comment section completly open with no mods because Trolls are a every day part of N4G and we just have to accept it.

Dont give that BS that N4G can do perfeclty fine with out trolls - we all know that 90% of users dont even read the article but just comment or read trolling comments.

Just set the records str8 that this is troll city and when some one trolls no one will have a fit about the mods not doing there jobs.

[kharma45]

My big thing is that stricter moderation is a must, the amount of crap that gets approved is a joke.

Mods seem to take no notice of reports, flamebait articles with over 30 reports stay no problem when they should be removed.

N4G needs to move towards aggregating more quality news, and people who approve bile on multiple occasions should be stripped of their approval powers.

[DaReapa]

It seems as if there's a committee of fanboys delegated to just finding any type of flamebait article against the competing console to approve. If they are indeed taking this survey seriously, then it's nice to see that N4G has finally taken necessary steps to bringing this site closer to a level of maturity.

[N4g_null]

Seriously they should just make a part of the site called fanboy apocalypse and just let the fan boys go at each other lol. Then the rest of the site could get great comments from people who actually like gaming and are not afraid of change.

The Internet use to be a great place for fan feed back yet now it's endless pr.

[morkendo]

they should take away agree an disagree, give more bubbles with no penalties

[ImmortalLegend]

It's stupid. You can say something completely logical and get a ton of disagrees.

[Capt-FuzzyPants]

I enjoy peoples opinions of top 10 lists.

[OneSneakyMofo]

Bring back open zone. Either get rid of the bubble system & have faded comments that are disliked and nearly invisible comments that are hated OR if open zoners are permanently banned, take away their subtract / add bubble link (stops debubbling tenfold). Mods need to lay off. I lost a bubble because i said i didn't like halo, and when i tried to defend myself, ppl got mad. Flamebait articles, foreign sites, and personal propaganda (HHG show) should be discontinued. Fix embeded video link. It doesn't always work. Lastly fix the article report system. I hate when 50 ppl report but it only takes 10 approves to go through.

I know N4G won't do this as a lot of what I suggested brings in more hits. Oh well.

[Ilikegames76]

here are stuck with 3 or 4 bubbles, while a spammer with new account have 7 bubbles. What gives?

[BeOneWithTheGun]

should have their names right at the top of the thread and a vote system in place so the rest of us can vote down idiots who approve useless crap.

[xTruthx]

Free cookies for to contributors!

BTW I had 9 bubbles on the old n4g, here I haven't even got to 4 lol

[N4g_null]

How about an owner zone if you own the system then you can post in a special part. Then an open zone where users vote to move comments there. Open zone would have unlimited post or at least 2x your bubbles. Yet the normal posting area is great so far.

This gen just has more whiners than any other. The new adult gamers and preteens coming from new gen 1st time hardcore games is high also. These guys look at gaming as a sport online.

N4g is ok yet we also need a tip area so we can alert the guys who want the news points of great news after ndas run out.

Also it would do n4g justice to sperate fanatics from normal gamers. The casuals are coming and if you guys can be the first to make a part of your site for them you'll really start making money.

[BornToKill]

report system is useless.

[Mmmkay]

seems to be one 360 fanboy and one ps3 fanboy moderating, and both of them neglect and refuse to moderate stuff that don't suit them.....

[DaReapa]

LOL. Sadly, you may be right.

[godoftime]

(4thDimension): FUCk 'EM

[ezcex]

[ezcex]: hey (4thDimension), are you godoftime?
(4thDimension): Yes

[godoftime]

What proof do you got? Pics or GTFO!

Edit: Okay who ever disagreed with me is a dicklicker.

[Poseidon]

love n4g because of the news that comes in 24 7. refresh the page...more news.

and yea the report system really is a useless feature.

[mrv321]

By news you mean 'news' WHICH in turn usually means opinions, top tens, cosplay and MAYBE twitter which announces a announcement.

[HeroXIV]

Yeah, I love it for those reasons too. I haven't been here long enough to comment on what's wrong because the site is a huge improvement from the last gaming site I was on. :P

[CynicalVision]

'Make the comment section completely open, with no moderation.'

- Oh come on , can you imagine that?

[Count]

It's almost like that right now. What with the mods noticing the posts and coming around some 4-5 hours after they've been posted?

@HeroXIV : Improvement from your last gaming site? N4G? Fat fucking chance.

[iamgoatman]

*Visits a few articles*

Yeah, pretty easily actually.

[Baka-akaB]

it's not just about fanboys flaming ... it's the way some made it even a spam on each article . What's the point or bubbles or reporting when guys like omega and the "gang of tobey" can live forever spaming their venom ?

[Wizziokid]

interesting, lets hope feedback actually gets listened too.

[MaximusPrime]

i filled in survey.

- remove hardcore fanboys
- only allow top quality news from proper source, such as IGN
- remove "agree/disagree" option from submission page. put it back where its originally was.
- no news from personal blogs or "opinion" story type.
- and most important of all stricter moderation. 24 hours a day

[LordMarius]

bring back the open zone
ban worthless sites
have a better link to the forums
update the forums
ban, ban, ban

[GameOn]

Yeah they basically just need to revert to the last version of N4G. was much, much better.

[Count]

Ban the trolls, tightly moderated fanboy comments. Allow only CREDIBLE news sources to get through.

[Christopher]

Done and done Dusty.

I'm anti-fanboy and trolling, I just hope that you guys make sure you have a method to distinguish fanboys from those who play on or prefer one console over another.

I also do think that opinion pieces and reviews should not clutter the home page. They can still be available on the site, or perhaps even set as a personal option for showing on the home page or not, but we are plagued by them too often as fuel for fanboys and trolls.

[silvacrest]

my main issue is the bubbles, with my previous 8 bubbles i could have a good intelligent debate, now everything has to be settled with 3 comments which sucks

also, opinion articles need to be removed or put on a different page

[Count]

Are you serious? Your bubbles are the LEAST of the problem. And good intelligent debate? On the current N4G? Keep dreaming.

Can anybody tell me WHY they removed the Open Zone?

@Alos88 : Partially the reason that people use the agree/disagree function is because they can do it anonymously and without a comment.

@N4realGMRZ : No, if N4G's problem was only that people had an opinion then we wouldn't have a problem at all.

You're incorrect, in fact, having a different opinion on N4G is actually SHUNNED.

[silvacrest]

i dont no about you but i did actually have good debates with certain people who aren't raging fanboys, 3 bubbles just isn't enough for normal N4G users

although reading other comments here i think the open zone should return and people with one bubble should be auto banished there

edit - looking at your bubbles you dont even have enough to reply to my last message, this just further proves my point

[iamgoatman]

Having around 4/5 bubbles wouldn't be the problem it is now if we were allowed to edit our comments for longer than the 15 minutes or so after we initially post them.

[DelbertGrady]

Nice initiative!

[Alos88]

I'd like to know who agreed and disagreed with me, but not in a way that anyone else would know except me and them.

[Paradicia]

Too many trolls and fanboys hide behind the anonymity of the Agree - Disagree system.

[FiftyFourPointTwo]

OPEN ZONE.

[Chris399]

Bring it back.

[Paradicia]

Why waste bandwidth on people who should be banned already? The only way to clean up N4G, is stricter moderation and harsher punishments for trolls and fanboys.

A ban system should be put in place with a warning system - 3 warnings and they're ip banned. Good riddance I say.

[ThatCanadianGuy]

IP banning doesn't do anything.People can change their IP's in a few minutes and be right back with a new account.

Stricter moderation won't do anything other than remove all fun from the site.

[Chris399]

They'll just make another account or change IPs. And I'm sorry, but creating a quick-ban, authoritarian culture - ala Kotaku - leads itself quite nicely to elitism.

N4G was much better with the Open Zone, fanboys and all. At least each segment of the population had a place to post.

[Christopher]

I did like with the old site that I could post something off-topic that wouldn't cause me to lose bubbles or get yelled at by another commenter in the open zone. Sometimes I have a (poor) sense of humor and I'd rather post those bits in a space that I feel more appropriate for such responses.

[Zeevious]

I also have a unique sense of humor, and have hesitated to post as I used to because of it...Without an Open Zone & Consistent moderation, I'm seeing limiting site contributions.

Having my 9 bubbles trashed to nothing in the site changeover didn't help either.

Strict IP Bans can be circumvented with a simple proxy. Tracking bans are effective but much more complicated to implement.

What this site needs, and was supposed to get was more, unbiased moderation! Yes PEOPLE actually moderating messages. Community members that have proven they can help.

I've gone from a consistent user of N4G to a casual user because the changes have gutted the spirit and community of this site.

Alexa agree's . . . Traffic here is consistently declining.
http://www.alexa.com/sitein...

I hope the new changes from the survey help.

[Paradicia]

Well considering there is little to no moderation presently. Harsher moderation wouldn't be the end of the fun - it would just separate the people who want to discuss games from the trolls and the idiocy of the fanboys.

The open zone only goes so far with segregation, as they're still allowed use the site freely within the zone and still agree-disagree with people in the gamer zone.

[secksi-killer]

well said havea bubble

[Christopher]

Perhaps you can only agree/disagree in the zone(s) in which you have the ability to make a post? Or, those who can only post in the Open Zone can't agree or disagree.

[TheHater]

All sites that uses flamebait headlines, articles, etc to get hits rather than a quality article.

[maawdawg]

The hit seeking, drama starting articles only feed the existing problems with the comment section of the site. When the article itself is fanboy slanted or just begging to be railed against it only serves as fuel to the fire. Those articles aren't news in any sense.

People who submit and approve those articles that cause problems should have warnings issued and if they can't stop promoting those useless articles onto the site, have their approval abilities stripped.

[N4realGMRZ]

Is not n4g its that everyone has an opinion........can solve this problem half way......moderate anyone under 18 ........ibelieve n4g is plagued with kids.....it just has to be!

[bjornbear]

no google translate bullshit

[DJMarty]

I agree, news should be in english.

[ElementX]

Funny cause the thank you page of the survey page is a foreign language....

[bjornbear]

I respect other languages, its just the whole google.translate crap is a mess and makes the news illegible and pointless (almost) since that news will be almost readily available from another source (probably in english)

[Mista T]

a sense of balance is needed, if I say something bad about xbox 360 or a game on it, I get "woot woot!" or "you're totally right man" but if I when I say something bad about ps3 or a game on it, "I get, you must bez a xbox faboy" or "you don't have a ps3" the people who aren't fanboys are the ones penalized on this site. If I speak my own opinion, I don't want my bubbles to decrease, and my want to speak (comment) on this site!

alas, that is why I only have 2 bubbles.

[Matthew94]

you hit the nail on the head with that one.

Sony fanboys have infested this site and have made speaking opinions impossible.

We are in need of a good fanboy holocaust.

All aboard the trains!

[Zeevious]

The problem is Fanboy's, period -- of any console.

Anyone worshiping a console like a religious cult is simply mentally unwell.

Game consoles come and go, games come and go. They're supposed to be FUN, not spark death-threats, and this-pixel is better than that pixel debates.

Enjoy the console and games you have...and get over yourself about it -- Your console choice doesn't have to be everyone's and everyone's choice doesn't have to be yours!

[games4fun]

i would like a separate section called blogs. that way all the blog articles would get put in there.

also the person spamming the site for clothes and websites needs to be ip banned.

[ElementX]

So I said people who approved an article must be d-bags, I lost a bubble for that! I think that was harsh. Ban me for a week or something, I want my bubble back!

At least implement a warning system. I was just expressing anger and not actually calling anybody a d-bag. I think it was a HHG article.

[Baka-akaB]

Dont just remove crap articles , punish those that submit then too

[DJMarty]

Start with HHG.

He lives in world of his own, Titles are misleading. And his articles are generally bullshit.

Ban the spammers by IP

[TheBatman_Fanatic]

I couldn't agree more!

[BeOneWithTheGun]

He then jumps in with a few friends and APPROVES them!

[Hades1337]

Get rid of the agree/disagree system. People disagree with you when they don't like what you have to say, not because they don't agree with you. If anything just have an agree button.

[divideby0]

many just got to use the IGNORE list.....

this site HAS to stop the posting of lame kiddie blogs.....
to much content and not enough quality content is something they must strive for

[Acquiescence]

Time to tear this site a new chocolate log flume ride.

[NarooN]

This whole "bubble" system is stupid. Someone might be having multiple discussions in one article and suddenly you can't comment anymore. Someone might comment to you but you already commented three or four times and you're forced to used the wonky PM system suddenly. That's really stupid and archaic; it's like putting limits on how many continues you can use in modern-day games. Simply put, Kotaku has a far better commenting system.

[Alos88]

Agree so much, I understand it is a method of preventing spam but it isn't like they won't use alts to bypass it if they want.

[Hades1337]

If someone only has like one bubble though it usually means they are an utter prick, so the less they get to speak the better.

[BrutallyBlunt]

What holds this site back are the comment sections. You have far too many who post things just for attention with no real thought put into their messages. Plus do you ever notice how articles that are about the Playstation 3 vs. the XBOX 360 get the most attention? Why is that? Are we that desperate to defend and attack each other because those two platforms are the most competitive to each other?

I really wish everyone could just focus on having civil and intelligent discussions. However I get the feeling this place has far too many immature teenagers for my liking for that to ever happen anytime soon.

Gaming should be about having fun but why are there so many on forums and playing games online who do nothing but try to annoy others?

[Alos88]

I think we have a decent community on here overall, I haven't seen any racism yet at least.

[Acquiescence]

Have you not seen any of my racial outbursts on this site?! I'm a massive racist. It's those Inuit's that really grind my gears. Coming over here, stealing our snow. And fish.

[TheBatman_Fanatic]

AGREED!

[ASSASSYN 36o]

There needs to be an affiliation option were you can only view comments from people who support your gaming platform. I am sick of seeing 90 negative comments from people who have no intention of buying a game on a specific platform and 10 positive comments from those who support the game and platform.

[OSU_Gamer]

That would eliminate 90% of general comments on N4G and 99.9999% of Kinect comments.

[Pillville]

Double the bubbles. And when you reach 10 bubbles, the next step is infinite bubbles (talk all you want). Even the trolliest troll deserves 3 bubbles to be able to defend his trolliest ways.

Allow everyone to see who agreed/disagreed.

Need to be able to change my agree/disagree, sometimes I hit the wrong one by mistake.

The bubble down choices needs "incorrect" option. Some people are posting misinformation either purposely or unknowingly.

[Convas]

(1) The Contributor Test is just about useless now. Anyone can pass by just taking it over and over again and the rules are CONSTANTLY broken.

(2) Reporting is also useless. Why does an article with 10+ reports still get approved?

Fix for #1: Break internet fingers for offenders who repeatedly break the Contributor Guidelines.

Fix for #2: 5+ Reports should automatically push a story into a seperate pending area for "Troubled" submissions. 10+ reports should AUTOMATICALLY FAIL that submission.

[scruffy_bear]

I like some of the opinion articles but I don't like cosplay and top ten articles if N4G got rid of them we get better articles. Also keep the smaller sites as some of them are really good but dump fanboy and flamebait sites

[Urmomlol]

I'm not a big fan of them either, but you realize the reason why Top 10 articles do so well and get so much heat is because the majority of people actually enjoy reading them, right?

[Myst]

'heated discussions'
I don't think I have ever seen that but a nice debate would be nice. It's to bad that most of the time it gets reduced to name calling and such, though I'm sure something of this sort would be reserved for the forums more so than anything else.

[Dorfdad]

The best idea is to allow users to VOTE on specific sites acceptance. Basically allow anyone to post an article to begin.

Users can pick a box that this site offers informative information etc.. If X users say this is a bad site they can be removed from placing new articles on N4G.

Basically let the users vote to remove sites looking for nothing but hits with bogus of fanboy articles. N4G mods can look at the articles and make the final say.

Keep BS fanboy and SPAM articles away. While giving smaller sites who are trying to get noticed a voice as well.

WIN/WIN..

[OSU_Gamer]

"users to VOTE on specific sites acceptance"

The votes will not be based on the quality of the website. The votes will be based on what console the article is talking negatively or positively about.

There is no questioning that this site is filled with PS3 supporters. I'm not saying that is bad, but this will absolutely reflect in the sites being approved.

[Myst]

See this could be a good idea IFF it is used properly. I could foresee a lot of people simply hitting 'X' on a lot of sites and perhaps making multiple to do this.

So the only thing I would add to this idea is to have some sort of test or something that people must pass. A two-fold one at least since this could leave a big impact on the site.

[anonymouse111335]

Get rid of trolling option, it's abused so much, I don't agree with you is not the same as trollan.

The bubbles system on N4G could be good but it's not used correctly, you need a actual reason to bubble someone up or down, not just I agree or I disagree, a intelligent comment providing insight on something not previously mentioned should be bubbled up, a article with LOL360XUX all over it with someone posting PS3ROX should be bubbled down, contributes nothing but flamebait.

[loslonelyman]

OPEN ZONE...Allow unlimited comments in the OPEN ZONE. Leave bubbles for GAMER ZONE. Problem solved :-)

[PtRoLLFacE]

members who post famboy comments and ruin everybody else peaceful discusions, as well articles from blogs or websites that provoke famboy wars like hiphopgamer should be IP banned from n4g, right now you can ban but they will just make another account

[Jdoki]

I don't know why people get so irate about comments. If someone writes something you don't agree with, then move on.

At the very most N4G could implement a system allowing comments to be buried more easily - and then give us the option of setting the threshold for viewing.

I come to N4G cus the comments section is pure comedy!

What annoys me far more than fanboy posts is that NEWS for Gamers rarely features any NEWS!!! And what does appear gets buried under fanboy topics which reach 1000+ degrees, and pointless blog / opinion pieces with no factual basis.

What would be nice is some sort of tagging feature for the community - so that related topics can be grouped on the fly. For example... When NPD results come out and we see 20 articles all roughly the same but from slightly different angles, grouping them all under one tag or heading - such as NPD June 2010 - would allow easier dissemination of info.

[cyborg]

Please please please, only english submissions. :(

Other than that, n4g...I LOVE it the way it is. :)

[HDgamer]

Moderators are actually useless.

[Gilliand]

are the trolls, at first they were funny, then they pissed me off, but now its sad seeing a person waste so much time just to piss off people on the internet, they must be sad individuals in real life too.

The fanboys don't really bother unless they go into troll mode. I also think some trolls aren't even fanboys but have accounts where one is a xbox troll, playstation troll and a pc troll.

I just wish that there was some way to make it so that only one account could be made per ip address and just temperarily ban (or permanently) those people.

If that would happen there would be more discussion about the topic and I wouldn't have to go halfway down the page just to get past the troll comments.

Fix the trolls first then focus on the stories submitted since they don't have to be seen, but trolls especially the ones with 5k accounts with 4 bubbles will be seen. Normally I have people with 2 bubbles and lower blocked but it's those new troll accounts that piss me off since I can't ignore them all.

Wow typed more than I thought I would.

end rant/

[Scotland-The-Brave]

1.Show us who is agreeing and disagreeing
2.Bring back open zone
3.IP ban continous trolls
4.Allow bubbles to go to 0, so that trolls cannot comment

[Seferoth75]

Bad part is you do not even have to troll to have them taken away. Just defend the 360 or Wii in an article flooded with Sony fanboys and you will lose a lot of them.

The biggest issue is that the fanboys are running this site.

[CaptainMarvelQ8]

this should've been the pic
xD

[sak500]

I love reading news about new news to be announced next week about something new.

Make it so that only people with legit console gamer tags can post in that related news. We know 100s of sony worshippers dont even have ps2 let alone ps3 and yet they bring down teh comments section with their trolling.

Btw what happened to GS of XBLIVE not showing now when you click someone's account.

[MaximusPrime]

first time i saw two new tabs. "Facebook like" and "Twitter - Tweet this"

how long these been there??

Its a great idea

[Why o why]

you should have to leave a comment IF you bubble somebody up or down.

I think it should be clearer why an off topic comment can lose you a bubble yet multiple bubble up messages result in nothing

bring back the frikin open zone. Too many people on n4g dont know what a joke is and there are some very sensitive members here. Speaking of jokes theres a 'funny' plus bubble option yet jokes are often labled as 'trolling'....whatever

The mods also need a rating system and maybe they shouldnt comment at all as its painfully obvious that some hold grudges and do sh1t because its obvious some have their own preferences. Conflect of interest

most of the commenters with strong views are either leaving n4g or losing bubbles... WTF do we have to act like neutral games just to gain bubbles. Proper convos are dead now. Too much restrictions. People who used to have 8+ bubbles now have 2 - 3. Many of those made n4g better than where its heading.

despite all of that....its still worth coming to for many but its annoying that some people just have to make additional new accounts just so they can start fresh and comment freely

[AliTheBrit19]

I ticked the box that was in favour of getting rid of all fanboys.

[DarkSpawnClone]

ME too ..i like your style.

[dizzleK]

i went with "unlimited commenting and no moderation" almost like another board i use and it works well there, possibly because of it's more mature user base but i digress.

why should i be kept from legitimate discussions due to a 1 bubble status inflicted purely because i'm not a sony nut hanger or peoples sarcasm detector is broken? maybe i want to discuss an interesting editorial but oops, i can't. and i refuse to be as neutral and bland as milk just to increase my bubble count.

if they must have bubbles everybody should get an automatic 3 per topic, then people could shut you up on a case by case basis. if they eliminate "trolls" or whatever the site should seriously just change its name to sony4g then because from the system thats in place, it really already is.

[DaReapa]

This article/survey needs to be a sticky, if ever there was one.

[Baltis]

Though I haven't been here long I feel a warmth and a special bond with the posters here. I feel they all agree with me and that we all kind of have and share the same sentiments. I think I'll stick around.

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

No
More
Bubbles

[Slappy McGee]

1)Make it where if you click "Disagree" you have to leave a post explaining why.

2)Make the names of those who agree and disagree with you visible.

3)Stricter IP filtering so people can't use alts to push their stories through. Allow one username per IP.

[edhe]

Turn off comments, user submissions and just redirect to sonydefenseforce.com ;)

[Matthew94]

so this isnt sonydefenseforce.com?

damn this fooled me good

[DarkSpawnClone]

yup just did the survey hopefully they take note.and listen well sure a open zone would be great but if the mods on this site stopped the flame bait articles and articles with flame bait tittles(I'm looking at you HHG)and patrolled the hottest news articles and removed the fanboy comments things would be great.We don't need these silly little fanboy wars i really wish people would stop with such and such console is better or the PC fanboys who think there gods lmao.

[Bigpappy]

If they don't it should not register.

I do like that I can now express my views with out being penalized be cause most on the site disagree.

Make it easier to show who replied comments are for.

The site is a great idea, and I spend more time here that any other site. I actually like the back and forth even the pointless fanboy ones sometimes are entertaining. But it would be nice if they could have some facts in their negative bashing.

[TrevorPhillips]

To make N4G a better site, ban all the haters ;)

[Pandamobile]

And blacklist Hiphopgamershow.com

[Eddy223]

BRING BACK YOUR TWITTER UPDATES

[Pandamobile]

Add a Steam Community link in user profiles. I've been asking for this for a year...

[Siesser]

Guess I'm just following along with the masses here, but seeing who agrees/disagrees, and having to explain WHY you disagree if you do. Now, in order to not make this unbelievably annoying...

Agrees do not to to explain why they agree - it's because they think the agreed upon statement was correct - easy enough.

Disagreers should have to basically make a post each time they click "disagree"

Agreeing with someone else's disagree should count as a disagree to the original post, without the need for writing "why" you disagree.

Easy Peasy, no?

[ATi_Elite]

I MOST definitely don't run to N4G for my PC tech info but it would be nice if they got off their butts and reviewed some upcoming tech for the PC section.

Hire me and I will be happy to test, review, and write articles for the PC.

tired of N4G's pathetic PC section full of bloated PS3 and 360 articles.

[N4PS3Fanboys]

Ban a few hundred PS3 fanboys and force a few hundred 360 fanboys to join the site to even things out. It's not fun for anyone when PS3 fanboys outnumber all other users by a 10 to 1 ratio.

[Matthew94]

i actually thought it was more fun when 360 fanboys like metal gear rising trolled the site endlessly

[omi25p]

get rid of the damn console hate and have ACTUAL NEWS rather than flamebait attempts. their needs to be an actual top ten page rather than it being on news page.

Also get rid of bubble system, if you say one thing that a certain group of console fanboys disagree with you will never get to express your opinion in more than one or two comments.

[Jakens]

I'm really happy with the way the site is now. I love the large amount of news content here and I love to read the comments on them. No need to change too much. I like the agree/disagree system to get a quick feel for what others think. I like light moderation. Some fanboys are not extreme with hate, others are. I have no problem with the bubble system. No need for more than 3 or 4 bubbles. I like that you will need to earn your bubbles over a period of time. Maybe a leveling system type thing. Thank-You for a woderful site. My favorite homepage to date.

[georgeenoob]

I want strict moderation. Hate these fanboys around here.

[The Milkman]

I don't know why but I prefer latest comment to be shown first instead of the first post made. Keep the random quoted post though, I think that's different.

Edit: Actually this would be better because it would help stop trolls from picking on one particular person by giving negative bubbles. Usually if someone is first to post something it's not always truthful because of the fear of trolls. If you make most recent post appear first then if the article gets hot the first poster wont get so much heat over their opinion.

[shutterspeed]

This site is fucking GARBAGE. So many trolls. So many fanboys. And yes, a majority of them are PS3 fanboys, and they are annoying. There, I said it.

What this site needs is some serious policing and moderation. This doesn't mean you can't still be a fan of your favorite console, it just means you can't say stupid shit anymore and approve any rubbish article to make the other side look bad. Moderators need to set what is and is not tolerated and enforce it. Get rid of the bubble system and BAN people. Ban their IPs.That way, people will think carefully before they say stupid things.

This site needs to be like NeoGAF if people ever want any sort of meaningful conversations going on. 80% of the people on this site would have been permanently banned if this were NeoGAF.

[Hypnotic]

I think N4G should just disable comments for articles and open up a discussion forum.

[kraze07]

The only gaming discussion site on the net worse than N4G that I know of is the Myspace video game forum, but at the same time most sites don't allow discussions to be so open and heated. That can be a good thing or bad thing depending on the article being discussed. I think there needs to be stricter enforcement on pointless fanboys comments where people don't say anything but comments like "GTFO xbot" or "in before SDF".

[AngryTypingGuy]

Too many people disagree for the sake of disagreeing. Sometimes people come on here and give an opinion and back it up with facts or statistics, only to have people hit disagree because that's all they can do. Not to mention if anything negative is said about Sony, you get 50 disagrees right off the bat.

And please, no more Top 10 lists. The website is called NEWS for Gamers, not Opinion for Gamers.

[xTHRASHx]

There really is no where to go but down. It is a massively popular site for readers and writers alike but with more people come more problems. Best of luck trying to fix those.