It's 2016. Where is Gamespot heading and what's next for Gamespot?

*First of, let me just say that this is just to get some feedbacks from GS users [Mods included if they wish to share there opinions] on what's happening to Gamespot now and where is the Staff going with this*

I know it's too early to tell but I haven't seen any improvements such as, poor journalist posting news with very little to no solid details, [I'm not calling out any names on journalist] less gaming reviews as ever, and the community has really shrink way more so then it is last years early 2015. I'm not trying to be a jerk on these opinions, but GS isn't giving me a reason to keep coming back but this doesn't mean I'm leaving, I'll give it this year to see if things have improve but if not by 2017, then I guess I'll just pack my bags and leave.

Now this bring to the question, what is your opinion GS users? Have you see anything improve lately here?

You're not being a jerk. Criticism is needed to improve things, and this site is in serious need of improvement. This feels like a dying site.

The only good thing I've seen on this site is the community. Everything else has been terrible, awful, horrible and no good.

The writers just copy articles from other sites and reword them, and they do a horrible job at it because the articles are filled with typos, errors and false information, and they don't get usually get corrected. I've even seen at least one article that was copied from another site, but was later updated on the site it was copied from to say it was incorrect, but wasn't updated here.

They expanded the site to cover entertainment, but they didn't make sure their gaming half that people come here for is of good quality before expanding. Gaming is the foundation of this site, and you don't build a house on an unstable foundation. And the only TV show review I've seen them put out was so bad that they haven't even posted a second. Some of the entertainment stuff posted is not even stuff that makes sense here. The behind the scenes look at Suits article for example.

Mods seem to delete posts they don't like. I noticed the article on here that was about the mods censoring anti-SJW anti-feminist comments is now gone just like the original poster claims some of his comments are. When another site reported about GS censoring people one of the mods talked with them saying that the censorship was only for "non-classy" things, but here we are today with a whole thread missing because it was talking about their deleting of posts. Probably need to hire some professionals or make better rules.

Over all this feels like an amateur site in every way but design, and that it is being run incompetently. I was really surprised to learn that the site has been around since 1996. This feels like a very very poorly copied IGN, which is dumb to be because people will eventually just go to IGN instead of waste their time reading this site because this site does nothing better.

What I feel can improve the site is for them to get rid of the entertainment stuff for now and hire all new writers, educated writers with a background in writing for gaming sites to get a nice solid foundation and make a name for this site, making this the kind of site other sites copy articles from. They need to replace the person making decision about how to run this site because they are incompetent. They need to hire an experienced editor (or whoever things have to go through to make sure they are worthy of being posted, fact checked and error free). I'd have the writers communicate with the community in the comment section to get rid of the feeling of the writers that are just in it to get paid and improve the community. I've noticed that on sites that have writers that communicate with the community instead of ignore them the community respects the writers and even become fans (like most people that used Joysiq near its end).

Personally, if I had it my way I'd try to hire all the people that worked at Joystiq when it shut down because they were the closest thing we had to journalists in gaming that we've had so far.

And after they get their gaming foundation nice and sturdy then slowly expand to entertainment with a thought out plan and good writers instead of just throwing a bunch of crap on the site making this site more of a mess.

There was a thread recently about comments being deleted regarding criticizing groups, imaginary or not. What a slap on the face. There were some posters who replied with some very valid and reasonable comments and it's just gone. Poof! Swept under the rug. That shows where this site is going.

@davillain-: This is why you're one of my favorites. Your passion for growing the community is a great quality and I'm glad to see that you're on the side of improvement. I'm reaching out to @mondoben in hopes of getting some answers to the questions you've asked here. In return, I have a few questions for you (and anyone else who wants to message me for that matter).

- Do you have any specifics you'd like to see (in terms of video, editorials, site content, etc.)
- When you talk about the things that you miss from the old days of GameSpot, what "old things" do you miss most?

Funny thing is, I completely forgot I made this thread until I got the notification lol. Also just so you know, I was lurking here on Gamespot since 2011, so I kinda been watching from good content to went downhill content but anyways, to answer your questions:

- Do you have any specifics you'd like to see (in terms of video, editorials, site content, etc.)

I would like to see solid details on articles that tries to get the best news for the most parts, I think the Entertainment is okay and all but could use more improvements such as movie news content, interviews, and such. More review games which is most important, and probably something for the GS users could contribute for the community or some sorts.

- When you talk about the things that you miss from the old days of GameSpot, what "old things" do you miss most?

• The top 5 bloggers was really interesting to see and read for those who enjoy blogging. I do blog every now and then.
• Videos such as the Gun Show, Mods on Sundays when Skyrim was a thing.

That's only half what I remember. Does this answers your questions?

I haven't read a review on this site since ZombiU. WORST. REVIEW. EVER.

The pulse has gone. Dead. You killed it. It ain't coming back, folks. Oh how we saw it coming.

I think the old gamespot was a higher quality product compared to the current site. It seems like the people who work for gamespot, whether paid or volunteer as mods, are not aware that they are held to a higher standard than the rest of us, not just in how they act as mods, but how the articles and reviews are written.

Titles are poorly worded intentionally to promote click-through, or are worded in a way to cultivate the fanboy mentality that starts arguments in the comments, interior articles are 4 paragraphs about a single sentence off twitter that act more as an ad for previous related articles than the actual topic. And it wouldn't hurt to hire an editor who is responsible for ensuring spelling and grammar on articles are of a high quality, 1 or 2 articles with a mistake per month would be acceptable, 1 or 2 a day is a joke. For at least one of the journalists, 1 or 2 per article seems to be the norm.

On the mod side of things, I often find topics that have been locked that I wish to comment on, this is not good, the forums are dead enough as it is. Topics disappearing because a mod does not agree with the topic is also an EXTREME red flag, mods are too quick to abuse their power as a moderator. Another red flag imo, some of the mods are feeding into the console war mentality that is acting as a cancerous tumor on this site. If the common users want to argue about which system is better, that is fine, they don't represent the website as staff. When a member who has "Gamespot" in their title is out there pushing the console war though, that makes me question whether or not the entire site feels the same way. Is the reason I see this mod behaving this way the same reason I see articles worded this way? Does this individuals personal opinion reflect the general opinion of Gamespot itself?

I don't think that any amount of features will overcome the declining quality of the content, and the cancerous console wars are only making things worse.

Hey everyone,

Been reading through the threads, and have shared some of your thoughts with the product and engineering team to see what we can do to improve some of the community elements of the site. As you can imagine we have an incredibly busy queue of stuff to improve around GameSpot so while i can't promise when we'll get to some of this stuff, i can assure you we hear your frustrations.

Regarding some of the general comments on the thread i'm sorry that some of you guys feel like the site has lost some of what made you come here originally. Being a 20 year old online brand is the equivalent of being 1000 in real years and you have to accept that the way games media is consumed, shared and discussed has completely changed. Things we have cut from the site have been cut when they've not been performing, and things we've added are generally there because they're performing. For several years the site had been very flat regarding traffic - but we have just come off the most successful January in our history, with traffic doubling from this time last year, and seen a 2015 where we've grown by 100% year over year - As a long time reader and fan of GameSpot, long before i was running the site, it's great to be back in a position where we're growing and growing fast.

Quality is something we take very seriously so if you do see mistakes regarding copy, please PM me the links and i'll make sure the team jumps on it. I'm also welcome to other suggestions on things you want to see going forward.

Thanks

I would like to encourage you (all users) to take an active role in combating these issues. If you have concerns about how a moderator handles things, please reach out to the team and our community manager (DigitalDame).

That being said, I am concerned that a lot of these reactions (and I am not directing this at you specifically) are from a misunderstanding of the code of conduct. Of course you might consider me (a mod) biased, but to my knowledge there are NO moderators who DELIBERATELY use their power for personal interests by locking or removing threads. When we remove threads, whether the users like it or not, it is due to violations of the CoC or terms of use. Now, sometimes mods make mistakes - we can and do reverse these mistakes, and this is again a place where user consultation with us and DigitalDame is important. "Why did we lock ___ thread?" "Well, because it violated ___ rule. I'm sorry, but those are the rules of the site." "Oh, but that was demonstrably a mistake?" "Fixed." <- these dialogues can happen. It should not be "evil mods against us" but "good mods helping to enforce the rules and ensure a friendly and safe place for games discussion". And I really believe that is where all mods' hearts are. Again, a lot of the complaints we get about moderations are, unfortunately, simply users who broke the rules but don't want to admit it. This doesn't mean we don't want to help users who are moderated in error - so please do reach out when there are concerns.

As for your second point about how moderators are allowed to comment: 1) the user "Gamespot" is not a moderator. We can't and won't speak for that account's choices. 2) moderators are users, not GS employees. Our job is to enforce the rules, but we are in fact SUPPOSED to maintain an active presence in the community. How can we moderate if we aren't gamers ourselves and don't interact with other gamers on the site? To clarify, our views officially do NOT reflect those of GameSpot unless explicitly stated as such (e.g. we have been given instruction to convey a GS view). It is perfectly ok for a moderator to dislike a game GS gave a great review to - for example - and to express that in discussion about the game.

That being said, as part of our role in upholding the CoC, it is our job to abide by those rules ourselves. So, here again is a place where if there are legitimate concerns about a moderator's behavior those should be raised. But we are in fact allowed and encouraged to express our own opinions about games etc and engage actively in the community.

I hope this helps clarify some things, and ultimately communicates that we are here to help and listen. I hope users keep the channels of communication open with us, because it really should not be "us" (mods) vs "you" (other users).

@xantufrog: No, I do not consider you to be biased, you're one of the ones who appear to make an effort to be impartial, @digitaldame is this way too, class acts all around. But I don't feel I should have to call out anyone who does not handle themselves properly, it's not my site, it's not my job. I also do not wish to call someone out and be wrong, it's more a deal of being somewhat frustrated for a long time and just knowing where that emotion is directed.

As for the 'Gamespot' title I mentioned, it says "Gamespot Moderator" directly underneath your avatar, and as a mod, you are the first layer of people who represent Gamespot.

I'm not trying to say it is an 'us' vs 'you' deal, I'm just saying some of your peers need to act like an adult, and realize that like it or not, you're a representative of this site. If your peers held themselves the way you two did, and many of them do, I probably wouldn't bring it up.

While I didn't want to bring attention to any moderators situation when it comes to do your duties but however, despite what @suicidesn0wman may think, I can definitely say that I haven't seen any mods using there powers for there own gang but however, I think he's referring to System Wars mods is what I assume which by the way, we see more locks, somewhat aggressive mods, and locking threads without leaving a note as to why the thread was locked? While I will NOT say there names, nor will I report of such acts coming from moderators actions, but my main problem is the fact that some mods DON'T even leave a not why the thread was locked, it's annoying to see this kind of crap cause there are things I don't know what cause a thread to be lock, was it fanboy bait, was it violating ToU, ect. these things we need to know so that person or me won't make the same mistake when we make threads. That's the kind of issue i hate seeing when a mod doesn't leave a note why the thread was lock in the first place and it looks lazy at that.

As far as abusing there powers, I haven't see such things, [not yet at least] but I have seen harsh words when a mod is having conversations but hey, like you said, we all aren't perfect, so it's understandable.

I would like to encourage you (all users) to take an active role in combating these issues. If you have concerns about how a moderator handles things, please reach out to the team and our community manager (DigitalDame).

While I cannot speak for the others, this is how some of us are uncomfortable about this, [including me] reporting. Let's just say that I'm uncomfortable reporting mods actions and I always assume GS staff are just going to wash these actualization away, no offence it's how I feel about it.

Having said this, I would like to say thank you @xantufrog for sharing these opinions and you are the first mod I seen to go into details so I like to give credit to you!

@davillain-: I saw the anti-SJW thread before it disappeared, I felt that it was a topic that was controversial but debatable. Whoever closed that topic did so because they simply didn't like it, I would have waited to see if it got out of hand and let people share their thoughts.

I also think the mods could simply alter the thread, remove whatever is offensive and give a warning, but leave the thread open for discussion. i.e. the PSVita Vs 3ds thread that got shuttered last night, I could not see a reason for that, though I'll admit the OP was a bit of a bait, it was no more bait than just about every post charizard has created this past month. A very typical SW thread that is usually allowed to continue, closed with no reason.

apparently more non gaming news.

and less fixing bugs that are there since the launch of the new design.

trying to kill the forums harder

adding 2 different media players on the same site and both have performance issues.

great job gamespot.

From what I understand, that thread was removed because it didn't really belong in the Bugs Reporting & Feedback forum. The user had an issue with a specific moderator. Something like that should be posted in Ask the Mods or a private message should be sent to community manager DigitalDame. I would like to point out that Ask the Mods already has a post regarding what was said by that particular moderator. That thread was never locked or removed. If you really want to voice your concerns about any moderator though, your best bet is to contact the community manager.

Regarding the locked Vita Vs 3DS thread, I brought that to the attention of the mod team to see why no note was left. Looking at the thread though, I'm assuming this may have caused the lock: "9. Vita is for grown up men: Did you Know 75% of 3DS players are actually kids who just recently to walk? The other 23% are their mothers andthe rest are just pedophiles and Charizard. These randomly made up numbers DON'T lie, why do you think 3DS has games like Animal Crossing? On the Vita you will find the hardcore gamers, the dedicated. the achievers. Only Players."

@davillain- If you see a locked post with no note, I would just send a PM to the mod team saying someone forgot to notate the reason for the lock. Every locked thread should have a note, so no one will give you a hard time.

i have posted this twice written differently of course, as of yet to no avail, ok so to do it a 3rd time. comments are way down, so site use is up for views, but not that many comments on the articles, reviews or videos. i would like to help, and some of the things from the, "good old days," i would like to see are an auto refresh. as i have said without that, conversations are stifled. ok so if you won't do that can you put a second refresh button at the bottom of the comments page. next the tiny avatars to show, who liked a comment was very useful.

also you could employ a broader reviewer pool, as some truly stellar games are being reviewed by people who, IMO, are not right for the genre. ok so next on the list is, this bug that has affected me and maybe others, we/i get 2 auto "likes" on any comment i post, and any comment i give a "like" too.

well that is all i can think of right now.

thanks for your time :)

@mondoben: Oh oh oh I got an idea

Can we stop reporting on what consoles use porn sites the most? Surely you people have actual news or insight on the gaming industry?

The new site is a giant dumpster fire. I really miss the old site. And before a staffer asks "what do you miss?", the answer is "everything". The great content, the functioning search filters, the general lack of suckiness. You know, all that stuff.