Tips on posting N4G Comments

Hello, this is my first blog on N4G. The following is some helpful tips to posting a comment. Enjoy; feel free to discuss in any way in the comments.

1. Don't have your avatar give away what your true feelings toward something is- Writing a descriptive comment on your particular and "unbiased" opinion of a console is not aided by your avatar proudly toting a picture of a RROD with "54.2" next to it or a pic of an Xbox atop a smashed PS3.

2. Pages of text are not fun to read- You may feel the need to get your point across, but when it takes three mouse scrolls to get to the bottom of your comment, you are doing something wrong.

3. Don't make a fanboyish comment and then claim you aren't one in a different thread- People WILL find your comment and happily post it as argument against you.

4. Know the article you're in- Don't write "Uncharted 2 has nothing against Halo" in an article made for PS3 owners or "Xbots bend over for Microshaft" in an article inhabited by Xbox owners and then act all surprised when people backlash you.

5. Don't claim you were simply "stating your opinion" when your comment was clearly you being a dick- When you write a comment stating that you hope a console owner gets raped for owning the console you hate, people will recognize it for it's fanboyish nature. Don't try to delude yourself into thinking otherwise.

6. Recognize when someone is being a fanboy, lest you want to reveal yourself as one- Once, an article was submitted stating the PS3 got it's first 3D PSN game. A 360 fanboy mistook it as an article saying PSN got the game before 360, and immediately sprung to the 360's defense. As the article was simply talking about PSN getting the game and not mentioning 360, the fanboy accidentally revealed himself for who he was.

7. Don't use RROD as an argument- While it certainly is an issue, using it as one of your arguments is a tired and weak strategy and will usually spring up another set of arguments and won't help the situation.

8. Agree/Disagree based on what one says, not who they are- Posters tend to follow others around like stalkers and disagree on every comment that person makes without thinking. You may wind up disagreeing with a comment that person makes that supports your views.

9. Don't try to reason with the Open-Zoners- It is the open zone for a reason. The people in there cannot be reasoned with. If you want to have a legitimate discussion, stay away!

10. Don't post every time you give someone a bubble- It's great that you do, but others really don't care. It just shows that you are trying to win the poster's approval.

11. Don't post the reasons you are not a fanboy- This shows that you don't have a lot of confidence in what you are saying and feel the need to validate it. It is also a warning sign that someone is a fanboy, so be aware.

12. Owning all 3 consoles does not validate your opinion in any way- If you think Xbox sucks, saying you own one doesn't have any purpose or validate your opinion. It also kind of makes it seem like you are lying, as a person who thinks it sucks may have not bought it in the first place, ect.

13. If someone makes an honest mistake, go easy on them- One poster wrote down  the wrong company making Uncharted 2 (while writing a comment metioning how he loved the effort the company was putting into the game, mind you), and you would have thought he killed the commenters families from the amount of backlash it received. If a mistake is made, correct it politely. Others may not know as much about the topic as you and may make mistakes.

14. Don't comment on flamebait- You are only feeding it.

15. Be aware of the ever-present double standard-  A double standard is when someone complains about another's behavior when the complainer happens to do the very same thing and the fanboys don't say anything if it supports their views. An example would be a fanboy saying that their console being in 3rd place is no big deal as sales don't matter, but then brag when their console shifts to first place, completely contradicting their original comment. It's pretty obvious what that commenter believes at that point= Sales don't matter until they start supporting their console of choice. Any comment made to point out a double standard will only be met by disagrees, as the group that made it doesn't have any argument to prove you wrong.

16. Recognize what a person is really saying- When a person complains of all fanboys behavior, don't go "He's right, people can't just admit PS3 is better!". You're one of the people he's complaining about. Also, a person saying they like a game for 360 or PS3 does not automatically make them a fanboy. You may think they are as you have convinced yourself that nobody could possibly love the game they are talking about unless they are a fanboy, but other people have an opinion too.

17. Don't say "All fanboys are the same" and use it as an excuse for your behavior- It's true, but so what if another group is doing it in another article? That by no means excuses yourself when you do it.  Plus, the article you attack will likely be comprised of commenters that took no part in acting fanboyish in your console's article, who will be confused as to why the hell you're bashing their article, and even more so when you complain they were doing it back. Take out your anger on a fanboy through PM's, leave the uninvolved out of it!

18. Know when to give up- When it's clear you've lost an argument, don't keep going. Preserve your dignity.

Hope you enjoyed. Part 2 coming soon, possibly!

[Jinxstar]

Ones that particularly made me smile were 3, 5, 9 and especially 12 and 16.

Good little read I feel. I am a self admitted PS3 fanboy and I hate when people say "Oh your just a fanboy" and I say "Yes. Whats the point?"

The thing I hate the most is people trying to be high and mighty and saying things like. "Why do we need to fight" 'This console war is ridiculous" When it happens in every medium the world over and debate is human nature and it's fun. Especially when anonymity is used =D

Overall though my biggest gripe is 360 fanboys saying "This place is a haven for PS3 fanboys. N4G SUX!" When if they had been here 2 or so years ago like me they would have seen me with a lot fewer bubbles and RAMPANT 360 fans everywhere. I like tp say 2 things to these people.

A. Don't like it? Leave.

and

B. You reap what you sew. You plant seeds of hate and bias they will grow and do the same against you.

Game on and bubs for you danth =P

[danthaman15]

I kind of disagree with this however. It contradicts #17. Sure that was a problem, but how does doing it back make things better? Many have joined the site over 1 year instead of 2, and you can't act surprised at their first impressions at the site. If you want to be seen as more mature, don't do it back. If people really had confidence in what they believed about a console, they wouldn't feel the need to do this.

[Jinxstar]

Ah but there in lies the rub. In my personal and professional life I am plenty mature. Why would I want to be mature on a website? Do I care what anyone on here thinks about me. I am a war veteran, A firefighter and a full time student. Do I care what a 13 year old thinks about me on a gaming site? Not one bit. I can however tell them how retarded they are for buying a 360. I can back it up and contradict anything they throw at me as well.

To break down 17. as I see it.

"Don't say "All fanboys are the same" and use it as an excuse for your behavior- It's true"

I don't think it's true. There are many types of fanboys spanning the world over in every medium. In games some support a company. Some support it's games and still some support other aspects. Some have sound reason some don't. There are many arguments but overall if someone says "The only game I care about is halo" then rock on. Play halo. Don't comment in any other thread though...

"so what if another group is doing it in another article? That by no means excuses yourself when you do it."

... I don't fully understand this. I personally hate halo. I feel that MS is paving the way for gamers to get bent over with releasing things like ODST. i.e. I personally was excited for borderlands but with the announcement of "DLC soon after release" I am getting turned off of it. Sad but true. I wont support getting taken for a ride anymore with VERY few exceptions. I may not even be getting MW2 anymore either for similar reasons.

"Plus, the article you attack will likely be comprised of commenters that took no part in acting fanboyish in your console's article, who will be confused as to why the hell you're bashing their article"

This is VERY few and far between. This is a discussion and debate site. If they don't like it they can go to PSblog or whatever 360 site they choose. G4, Kotaku or others are out there.

"and even more so when you complain they were doing it back. Take out your anger on a fanboy through PM's, leave the uninvolved out of it!"

The only PM's I have ever really sent were to apologize for being uninformed or out of line. I never have taken any argument to PM's... Far as I can remember anyway. Because whats the point of having comment section anyways then? Pure appreciation and praise of such games and nothing more? No. It's built to argue. It's designed to debate just as we are now.

There are a few points of yours I don't agree with but many points you made I do agree with. I think it's well written and a good opinion as a blog should be. Hence why I approved it. I don't have to agree with every point you made to think your opinion is worthy of some sort of merit.

I just feel there is so much complaining about "Oh noes teh fanbois is ruins my day" when in reality this is not "Serious business" it's fun and trolling is just as much fun. Taking this site to seriously will wreck you. If you want "professional" opinion... Whatever "Professional" means then stay out of the comments section. If you go in you will be disagree'd with by someone no matter how sound your opinion is. If you go in there then your asking for it... Plain and simple.

I didn't want to break rule #2 but felt it was worthy of it =D

[HolyOrangeCows]

See danthaman15's 2nd tip

:P

Oh, and Awesome Blog, danthaman15.

[Sarcasm]

Pfft, this blog is written by a fanboy.

Just kidding. :)

[rroded]

i got as far as #1

jk makes sense but the av stays cause it makes me lol

[Saaking]

I hate people that go into the open zone acting like they're all that. It's called the open zone for a reason. Great blog and tips. More people around here should read it.

[xoxideu]

that's a really old vaio laptop in that picture

[danthaman15]

Lol I know but the woman giving the thumbs up fit the blog perfectly.

[TenSteps]

Thank goodness I didn't give you a bubble :P

[xboxlover]

some sensible people on N4G.

[Bodyboarder_VGamer]

The sad thing is that nothing in this blog matter, the fact that this site is infected with Sony fanboys is its #1 downfall. I understand what you're trying to achieve with this but the fact that anything negative toward Sony means a bubbles loss and a disagree make every remark irrelevant. And this comes from someone that only has a PS3 and have been always a Sony follower since the PSX. I am something very close to a PS3 fanboy.

After this comment expect only disagrees and people silently taking my bubbles, which will make my comment even more relevant. Why? Because I'm blaming the PS3 fanboys for N4G problems.+ They don't consider this just my opinion, they take it like a direct attack to their persona and preference toward the brand.

-----------
As an example, I lose 1 bubble, received like 15 disagrees and a couple of users put me on "ignored" just for stating that current PS3's and blu-ray players only read double layer discs and that it would probably be impossible to fix this problem with a FW update... Are you getting my point? Regardless of if I was wrong or not, I just lose a bubble for saying something against Sony. But when I make clever comments attacking the X360 my bubbles suddenly start to go up! Even knowing that I'm just making the comment to see the reaction... And they often contain wrong facts.

[lh_swe]

What fun would that be? While some opinions anger me I do love arguing with people.
Also people will always act like this as long as the PS3 and 360 are being played, most people know better but refuse to acknowledge their contradicting nature and the wonders of being able to share an opinion that has an opposite will always muster a very strong backlash.
On the topic of the last one I have rarely seen an argument with a resulting "right" conclusion (from an objective standpoint) most agrement boil down to preference or interpretation ("best game" or sales "360 vs PS3" do you mean lifetime sales or yearly sales and which one is more important)

[danthaman15]

Well since people complained about it all the time, I figured I would write this. It was out of boredom, I know this won't bring the site anywhere.

[butterfinger]

You really DO understand N4G, then. I enjoyed this list, so you should definitely do a part 2 to make me happy. You want me to be happy, don't you?!

[RockmanII7]

Good read. I'm waiting for part 2

[gambare]

it will be interesting too

[ubiquitious]

However, the only way this would really have any effect would be to send this to all the N4G staff. If the rules were enforced on a regular basis and in a timely manner I think this could be a terrific site, but at the present time...

[hoo_mook]

Your post reminds me of the penny arcade comic that talks about the "Think B4 you speak" campaign:

http://www.penny-arcade.com...

[Lord Shuhei Yoshida]

I agree with this blog.I am not a fanboy but I am a troll.I prefer being a troll in the open zone and pissing off the xbo...uhh I mean Microsoft defenders.

[Saaking]

Well, isn't the point of the open zone to troll and "defend your console." Obviously, people posting in the open zone ARE fanboys.