Weekly Report: Game Nights Return!
Community News - Streaming Games Board opens and more!
Announcements
- Streaming Games Board: We've created a new forum dedicated to streaming services and free to play games. Stop by to check it out.
- Game Night Returns: Stop by on Tuesday 4/7/09 to participate in the first game night of the year. The game will be Left 4 Dead on the PC or 360. We'll be handing out a participation celebration emblem.
Note: If you cannot participate in the first game night of the year because of the ESRB rating, please read the game night FAQ for further information.
- Participation Emblem Alert: If you're an avid contributor of GameSpace banners you can receive an emblem for helping out numerous times. The following staff and users received the Banner Printer emblem last week: anthonyr1, capedbear , chilledmartini, insinuendo, rohver, ticonorico21, yevinorion and zixarga.
- System Wars rules thread has been updated. The new thread is easier to read and better categorized.
Member Spotlight
This week's member spotlight goes to Moroes for his editorial about how some of today's games are using the same molds as previous games. Here's an excerpt:
The sad truth is that the companies are scared to be creative, due to the increased chance of failure. Failure results in less money, and at this point everyone is trying to get as much money as they possibly can. I wouldn't blame them.
User Reviews
This week's user reviews were taken from my tracked users list!
- The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai (X360) by ruff_edgz
- Crysis (PC) fat_otter
- Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill (PC) Azghouls
- Mass Effect (X360) bacchus2
- BioShock (X360) borninvincible
- Lost Odyssey (X360) spazzx625
Randomness teh Awesome
- The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai (X360) by ruff_edgz
- Crysis (PC) fat_otter
- Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill (PC) Azghouls
- Mass Effect (X360) bacchus2
- BioShock (X360) borninvincible
- Lost Odyssey (X360) spazzx625
Randomness teh Awesome
- GoryAbomination received the hotspot homework emblem for his Zelda concept art.
- Lik has posted some pictures of his handheld games collection.
Moderator Corner
The Mod of the Month for April goes to Hungry_Bunny. Who would you have chosen? Stop by this thread to vote.
We brought aboard quite a few initiate moderators last week. Off-topic leaked the inormation, but if you don't hang out there, the new modlings include btaylor2404, iowastate, dab198, Gamecamiller, Bozanimal and Mattykovax. They all have quite a long journey ahead to make it past the hazing period.
The Mod of the Month for April goes to Hungry_Bunny. Who would you have chosen? Stop by this thread to vote.
We brought aboard quite a few initiate moderators last week. Off-topic leaked the inormation, but if you don't hang out there, the new modlings include btaylor2404, iowastate, dab198, Gamecamiller, Bozanimal and Mattykovax. They all have quite a long journey ahead to make it past the hazing period.
Tip of the Week
This week's tip is about observing unfamiliar users that post in comments and forums around the internet. It's always best to be cautious about clicking on links provided by people you do not know. Even when you know someone you should always get in a habit to follow these steps just in case your friends make a mistake.
How can you tell if you can trust a user on what their advice or their recommendation? Read on for some tips.
1) Is he or she an established community member of the website you are using? GameSpot has a record of how long a user has been registered in the user profile page and each forum post has the user's count and profile level on the site. On GameSpot it is a good idea to check the profile level and visit the user's profile to see who they are before considering a recommendation or website they are linking to.
1) Is he or she an established community member of the website you are using? GameSpot has a record of how long a user has been registered in the user profile page and each forum post has the user's count and profile level on the site. On GameSpot it is a good idea to check the profile level and visit the user's profile to see who they are before considering a recommendation or website they are linking to.
On a related note, if a newer registrant knows GameSpot way too well, this could also be a sign of a user that was previously banned or has an active alternate account. The best thing to do is be cautious with newer registrants that are acting out of the ordinary.
2) Is the user asking you to check out a website in a forum or comment for no given reason? Thats a bad sign already. If you do not know this person do NOT click the link. It could be a virus or a phishing website.
3) If you can't help but want to click the link first highlight your mouse cursor over the hyperlinked text and look on the bottom of your browser to see the url splash in the browser status tray.
Example: Try the cursor over the link method with the link here now called GameIAMALMOTLIKEGS.com. If you noticed the status bar in your internet browser
it shows that I hyperlinked you to GameSpot's sister site.
4) Another method was suggested by icytower38. Right click a link and select "Properties". If the url in the pop-up does not match what the user posted, chances are it is offensive or contains a virus.
5) And our last tip was provided by Hungry_Bunny. When you're using any site that someone directed you to, check the website url in the browser and see if you re logged in. If not, DO NOT login. For instance, let's say you were happily browsing GameSpot and a unfamiliar user refers what you think is another url to a page on GameSpot. You click the link and the site looks like GameSpot and you are logged out. Check the url because some websites are created to phish your contact information for the purpose of stealing your identity.
Until next week!
5) And our last tip was provided by Hungry_Bunny. When you're using any site that someone directed you to, check the website url in the browser and see if you re logged in. If not, DO NOT login. For instance, let's say you were happily browsing GameSpot and a unfamiliar user refers what you think is another url to a page on GameSpot. You click the link and the site looks like GameSpot and you are logged out. Check the url because some websites are created to phish your contact information for the purpose of stealing your identity.
Until next week!
Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com
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