Post here if you want to make OT Great Again!

Lurkers come out of hiding. This is your board and it's time you take it back again. We've been gone for too long. This used to be one of the best places to be on GameSpot. So get out your posting shoes again and let's show these new users how to be active again. It breaks my heart to see such inactivity and only YOU can help fix things!

Sorry, OT went to shit years ago, and it's only going to get worse.

Should I blame you for that? :o

no, blame Gamespot. For a variety of reasons.

1. The St. April Fool's Day Massacre chased off dozens of highly active posters, and good ones at that

2. Site overhauls made it so content is, well, shallow to say the least and not really worth discussing

3. They've removed a lot of the community tools and things that made this place a good place to come to

honestly there are very few active, positive posters here; way too many trolls; and too few people that make diverse topics. Games is full of ads, Off-Topic is full of hateful political topics (and anything that is not is quickly shuffled to the bottom); and System Wars is, well, there thar be monsters.

at least we still have some good mods around.

@mrbojangles25 said: (Reasons)

I'm not asking for excuses, I'm asking for active posters.

I hear about this from time from time but what exactly was it?

I'm assuming a bunch of users were fake banned for a day and a bunch of them got their panties in a bunch

First, there's the redesign; seriously, I've mostly adapted, but every now and then the process of posting something here makes me groan in frustration. They also nuked the unions, which sucked. Add social media and people generally moving on to other sites for gaming news, and this forum is practically on life support. I myself come here mostly out of nostalgia; I've been coming here since this place was Gamecenter.com.

Personally, I think they should offload the politics stuff to a "News & Politics Discussion" forum or something, then merge OT with the Sports forum.

It's always been about activity here, it's meant to be a place to speak to others. The forums work fine, it's the users that have abandoned the place. This is OT, we're supposed to be able to talk about ANYTHING here. **** Politics, **** Sports

I agree that OT has devolved into way too much political discussion. It's about all non-game related topics, which is why I try to create topics that follow that idea.

-Byshop

It's a pleasure to meet you. OT has always been about quantity not quality, although some good conversations have always developed from that. Hopefully people pull their head out of their asses soon and start posting regular again

Anyone remember YLYL threads, post your pic x edition, showing off your room, and the silly threads created by lowkey trolls?

I forgot exactly what it was but around April there was a big thing put on by the mods where someone was banned and they did a really good job of making it look unjust and legit, like the guy game back and made fake alt-accounts to fake-rile people up.

Users got seriously upset and started saying stuff not knowing it was a joke (amnesty was later granted because, as we now know, shit got out of control).

Long story short, a lot of users could not take the joke (maybe rightfully so, maybe not...they saw it as a slap to the face) and left the forums.

To me, it was the beginning of the end. I saw a big decline in the quality of posts and discussion after that, and soon Gamespot redesigned the site, and after that it was just one change after another after another until things are where they are now.

fair enough, you're right. I try to make nonsense topics, but no one like arguing over fun hypotheticals any more :( Everyone wants to get hurt feelings or sound indignant in political posts. No one wants to argue over what would win in a fight: an armored polar bear or two wolves with swords for paws?

And I like that, and something I try to emulate. It's why I made my Batman: The Killing Joke thread. Sadly it wasn't popular, but popular than most threads I make lol. I don't do it for likes or anything, I do it so people stop talking about god damn Trump or white nationals or whatever lol

I'm not sure I remember the joke you're talking about. I've been around forever and as a mod for a couple years now. I know some people who got bent out of shape when some specific users got banned, some users lost it when we published the naughty words list because they (incorrectly) interpreted what it meant, we lost some users when Gamespot briefly changed their logo to show support of the Supreme Court gay marriage ruling, and a few other events that have happened from time to time. The mods are involved in a lot of that, except for the stuff regarding site redesigns which is all staff. I've been a "Gamespot" member since before it was even Gamespot (my original account was with ZD.net) and I've been through more revisions of the board than I remember. The current version is certainly a bit... streamlined, and I miss some of the features and boards we used to have. Badges were cool, user created forums were cool, star ratings for posts were... not necessarily a good thing but they were interesting.

I will say that for the users who were actually banned, I can't speak to the specifics of their moderations but I can say that nobody who has been banned that I know of in the couple years I've been a mod wasn't for a really, really good reason (often several). Most everyone gets at least three strikes and the few who didn't did things that were really, really bad. There was also an issue where the automated spam protection accidentally took our a ton of users (and even some mods) due to some bugs but in every instance where someone alerted us or we noticed someone had been incorrectly banned, we made sure staff reversed it but we might have lost some users over that.

There was some good discussion in the Batman thread but more non-political threads in OT certainly won't hurt. I'm going to be onsite with clients for the next few weeks but I'll post when I can.

-Byshop

I highly appreciate that. Those science and technology threads are a lot more interesting anyways.

I wanted to create a D&D (as in the tabletop game) thread, but then I realized it might fall under General Gaming anyways. So I didnt post it.

It is a shame those threads dont get as much discussion though.

Only a few left over the joke. And they hadn't been as active here by then anyway so who is to say. What started the death of OT was when they changed the ToU and made practically anything okay. And the group that pushed for it.....didn't like it an left. Which is ironic. I guess there is something to be said for be careful what you wish for then.

The internet changed. Everything is social media now.

And DD don't use that phrase. Ewwww.

Let's do it!

Where do i sign? :)

Gamespot 2013 revamping hurt the community way more so. I love coming to OT but many of our OT friends all of a sudden just gave up and got fed up with the Moderators attitudes and since GS doesn't give a damn about there own site, this place is gonna get more worse then it is now.

@Gaming-Planet said:

@xdude85 said:

Sorry, OT went to shit years ago, and it's only going to get worse.

Anyone remember YLYL threads, post your pic x edition, showing off your room, and the silly threads created by lowkey trolls?

I blame GS staff for changing the rules for locking those threads and yes, it's not the mods fault for locking these threads but it would be nice if GS staff at least realize that in OT, OT is the only place to discuss about it.

I wasn't around in the old days but I keep hearing how great it was but it merely sounds like it was just more posters and less political. And after hearing this from Byshop ,"we lost some users when Gamespot briefly changed their logo to show support of the Supreme Court gay marriage ruling." I think it might have been a good thing they left.

I don't know, make any kind of post you want and if it's interesting you will probably get some discussion. It's hard not to talk about politics in todays extreme political environment. This stuff tends to be important you know?

One mod was banned, and it became a big discussions and the mods were divided, the old community manager JodyR was sort of leader among those who supported the ban on him. Solidruss, another long time was also banned.

People were upset. Damn I was upset myself hahahaha.

That was one prank to pull off.

Politics is a hot topic. You'll get more people to respond to those topics than the "my gym socks smell" topics.

I'm asking for what I've been asking for for the past 5-6 years... something good to discuss.

I honestly wouldn't mind having some religious discussion again. But actual discussion and open debate rather than close-minded assertions from proselytizers.

I've never been a topic creator, but I love being a topic contributor and discussing plenty of different things. Anyone here interested in Battletech? I've been getting into it over the past year and would love to share some discussion about 'mechs.

I believe Spazz (Forgot his entire username. Just know that he was a longtime veteran mod) got banned without warning over some some real petty bullshit. Solidruss, along with a handful of users, got pissed off, went on a rampage, and then also ended up getting banned. When the smoke cleared, Gamespot pretty much came out and said "April Fools!" then unbanned most users (I think some apparently took it too far so they stayed banned for a couple days to cool off).

Unfortunately, damage was done as a few members apparently took the joke REALLY personal and decided they were done with Gamespot and was never coming back. I believe they went out and created their own little site (Was it Common Grounds? The Forbidden Grounds? Can't remember the name of that site, but its probably dead by now)....

Yea baby, Oil up!

Daily Happening.

Shall I change the topics name to "We need The Cure for OT" so it's not so political and just music to our ears instead? :P Also, long time no see, hope everything has been well for you. =) Also, probably never thought you would see the day that you had more posts than me huh? lol

Silly thing to get upset over. The slogan wasn't even his to begin with; the guy basically aped it from Reagan 1980. Yay for student of history.

I guess when I complained about politics threads, I should have been more specific and specify that it's American politics threads I'm tired of. They basically fall into three general categories; "look at what our guys did, it's awesome," "look at what your guys did, it's terrible," and "you guys are worse than Satan and Cthulhu." And every thread descends into faux-lectures, trolling and myriad of logical fallacies. It's like watching a train carrying burning dumpsters that's stuck in a Groundhog Day loop of its own wrecking.

But you know what? Fine. If these threads won't get their own forum, and the standard of discussion won't improve, I'll settle for more threads on politics outside of America instead. Let's say... ...how about starting with British politics? I practically grew up there and still care somewhat about the place, and the politics there nauseates me relatively less than the American equivalent.

Here you go.

Lately I have found myself lurking more and more. I guess I'm craving the nostalgia of my youth that seems to be fading rather quickly (well...I am about 27, so perhaps its poof already). Never was a huge poster, but I enjoyed my time reading and occasionally posting when OT was at its peak.

Edit:

When did they allow cursing? I liked it better when there was censoring. For whatever reason, it makes posts come off as immature. Just, seems kind of weird I guess.

Make OT Grrrrrrr8!

Yeah, I come back every now and then and going to make it a point to do so more often. I'm far too busy to post like I used to but it would be nice to see the place fill back up again. It's the snowball effect, instead of lurking post. The activity will draw others, and before long the place will be busy again. Hard to get new people to post when there isn't any activity for them to respond to.

@double_decker:

I was 15 and in high school when I first made an account here and 27 and have a full time job now. Using gamespot as a barometer of growth in my life makes me aware just how quickly time passes. I remember back then portable gaming actually had a life beyond smartphones.

Anyways, I'll try to do the same, post a little more often. It sure would be nice to find a comfortable place to converse with like minded people again.

Yeah, I was in my early 20s when I came here, now I'm 33 and married with a full time job so I understand completely. I also do irc chat though, but I miss coming here and having people to talk with about random things, although not politics, etc. because people get pretty crazy about that sort of thing. But just having nice convo with others while gaming is what I like to do. =)

Airshocker was the last questionable ban I remember and I remember the outrage being more towards the fact that nobody would even tell us why he was banned until it was way too late to control the outrage. That was more the fault of staff policy than moderators though.

For what it's worth, I've always valued your posts and feel you're a great contributor to the section and GS in general as a mod. OT isn't really much worse, it's just more predictable. Political threads are fine, but they've devolved into constant bantering between the same users and there's no actual discussion to be had. When I see a political thread I already know what users are posting and what they're posting about. Maybe I'm part of the problem as I never really create threads and scarcely post despite visiting multiple times every day, but it's just hard to be exciting about posting here nowadays. Times are changing and I highly doubt OT, and the GS forums as a whole, are ever going to get back to even half the activity they had at their peek, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. I've been a part of some forums with less than 20 active members and it was awesome. Less activity is okay when the discussions are quality, but the quality has been lacking here for a while. However, the quality is a much more realistic fix than trying to get a ton more users to join or come back.

I also avoid the political topics, honestly I'm just not well versed or aware enough to hold my own in that realm. I too just want to have some relaxing conversation while multi-tasking on something else.

Which is what Roll Call is supposed to be for but many forget that. It's the safe place to post, the OT of the OT. Random conversation belongs there, and keeps the thread posters from complaining about being off topic in their thread.

Funny, I never knew that's what Roll Call was. I'll have to contribute.

Spread the word, it's a great place to meet up with other users and chat while gaming. Kind of like we are doing now here lol. Well it used to be, wouldn't hurt to have it be again. =)

Cool, will do!

@Byshop: these people left. They were not banned. It was a walkout, more or less, and no one came back.

I wish I could remember the exact circumstances. The mod...his avatar was a a guy with a red hat. I want to say an anime character. Kind of severe looking, like lots of straight edges. Wore like a red fedora or something and hod a wicked grin or something. Like if Satan and Carmen Sandiego had a child. I know that probably does not help lol...

*ahh, I belive his avatar was Alucard, if that helps. He was the "fall guy" iirc. Anyway I'm not dwelling on it, just providing info. Water under the bridge. The specific users that were hurt were Sajedene and Xaos. I miss Xaos. Sajedene was a good poster but...meh. She is doing quite well now, however.

**also this was like...years ago at this point. SHit like 5+ years by now. Probably more like 7+

@Toxic-Seahorse: yeah I feel the same. I wouldn't keep coming here if I didn't enjoy it. Either that, or I have an addiction to suffering :P

Any perceived complaints should be given the benefit as constructive criticism at worst :)

....if not ignored entirely :D

@mrbojangles25: Xaos would blow my mind in any sciency thread he posted in.

omfg right? Or science fiction, for that matter.

Yeah let's do that.

I remember those active days. I've missed posting here.

Was the site change that did it for me. Too many users leaving, too many 505 errors and too little activity made me lose interest. Some great times in this site.

I keep reading how amazing this site used to be.

-_-

Yep. And it's not dead.

This is my first post in 2017, and my first post in months, but yeah, GS in general just isn't the same anymore. The infamous TOU change in late 2011 seemed to be the beginning of the end, then things only got worse once the big redesign in 2013 happened. And I don't know about anyone else, but I really miss the unions too.

Yeah, the new site design is nice when it comes to feature wise but it certainly has slown down the posting process making it more difficult to have a fluid conversation with others in places such as RC. Getting rid of Unions and User Created Boards hurt as well, but most of the active users got older and life happened and the newer users just aren't as active which makes it harder to find new things to post to. Busy life is what slowed me down, but I am definitely trying to keep an eye on the place when I am around now. Every little bit helps I am hoping. =)