Ive been back posting regularly for just over a week now and am beginning to realise what a ghost of its former self this place is. Now this isn't a rant at the 'community' itself, more of the way things have fallen apart that supposedly held it all together and made this place great once. I now use the term 'community' loosely, and you'll notice im using apostrophes to empthasise this which you'll get sick of very quickly, unless you already have.

From what I can remember in the time Ive been a member of GS, there was only one bit I didnt like due to having a sense of a 'split community'. That was the Game Forums/Boards whatever you want to call them these days. These boards were a nightmare for me to post my opinions on as there would always be an argument, now this is common on the internet, we're surely all used to it if you've ever frequently posted on another site, but these always seemed to be worse as you'd get the GameSpot members, and then have the guys who were just using the boards. I always found true GS members to be more respectful, even if they disagree with your opinion, you'd get a good debate over whatever the subject was, nothing wrong with that. So in time I stuck to GS's features such as blogs and unions, blogs are always good, if you get a good read and usually a good debate in the comments. Unions were also fun at the time, it was the best place to go to share interests, Union boards were good to talk about subjects without getting abuse from the not-so-respectful members.

Now heres the problem, the unions are gone. Ok fair enough most were slowly dying away, but it didnt help when we had decent members of the community leaving GS because of things changing, there was no support for the unions left for the people who were desperatly trying to keep them going and there were rumours at the time going around about GS deleting the whole union feature together, which was supported by the fact the 'level up' feature for unions stopped a long time ago, and when the layout of GS changed, the unions stayed the same with some people saying they'd change at a later date, which they didnt. So the unions are long since dead, GS had then in my opinion, lost a key feature. Its something that I can look past, and move on with.

Yet now I look at blogs, it seems to me people can't talk about what they want to talk about. If they have a bit of a rant because one of their friends gets banned, they're too scared to say much about it just in case it happens to them, even the guys commenting don't want to say anything but "If I was to post my opinion, Id be banned". I dont want to have a pop at the Mods because I know 95% of them are good, down to earth guys like me and you. But since when was GS about banning people for giving their opinion? Yes its your responsibility to moderate the place and make sure everythings sticking within the rules, as its the members responsibility to stay within the rules, but it's going a little bit too far in the way I look around now and it seems to be Members Vs Mods for some people, not everyone, I know, but some. I hear of Mods arguing amongst each other, reporting each other. What on earth is going on? They're here to hold this place together. When the whole of GS falls apart, its the community that stands together, and the Mods, those who are chosen to be level-headed, well respected community members, are meant to keep this place a good place to come to. No longer do I watch 'On The Spot', no longer do I stay up until 4am to watch a press conference live at E3 on GS, no longer do I get my latest reviews or news from GS. The forums have always been a no-go zone for me personally, and unions are dead. What am I left with? The community, friends on GS that say what they want to say about anything, on their blogs, and for people to have a read, take an interest in, and debate in comments, support people in comments etc. Thats all thats left, and after this past week Ive noticed its all falling apart.

If we lose this, then its completly over, it'll get to the point where people will go elsewhere to post blogs, a lot of people already have, I remember when a wave of members decided to leave because they had enough of other things happening around GS, people aren't afraid to do it, it's almost about to happen again. The whole of GS needs to stand back and look at itself, this place used to be great, now its just another game site, just another less shiny IGN. At the heart of GS was a decent community. The Mods need to realise members dont want them around to just ban people when there's an issue, they're here to set an example by being good community members rather than being seen as this strict force that will take action immediately if they dont agree, hence the reason the most respected members of GS who take interest in being Mods are chosen, its not all on them though, other members need to stop saying Mods are power hungry, not all of them are, most are decent guys and are fair, the odd few seem to be going too far lately but everyone who actually cares just needs to get it into gear and sort this place out before it all kicks off.

Agree or disagree, its my opinion, theres probably more to it as well, more I could say personally too. Im only one member of many here, so Id like to know if you agree or not, and what your opinion is. And if a Mod was to read and felt like too much of it was aimed at them, then Id rather you had your opinion on it as it would help others understand a Mods point of view too, at the moment it seems like Mods are a totally different group to those regular members and it shouldn't be the case from whichever point of view you see it from.

Not everyone will find this subject a problem at the moment, most of the people who I regulary contribute towards don't seem to be having these issues personally, but when its when I look around GS as a whole that I notice every little rant, and a big number of blogs all point in the same direction, so if you feel it doesn't apply to you and you've read through all of this, then sorry for wasting your time.

Thanks to those who took the time to read all of this.