http://www.gamespot.com/news/important-update-to-the-gamespot-community-code-of-conduct-6414922 the rules are changing, hopefully this will make the comment section better as some really bad things get said there. And in case you hadn't noticed (yes I'm super late and lazy and most know already, I think) but for those who didn't. I am a moderator now, looky at the cool green thingy don't worry you all are safe from me................................................... except for allicrombie

If there were no achievements/trophies for them? So what are achievements/trophies and what can they do to change your gameplay experience? What are achievements? A achievement is considered to be a special reward for gamers that play games. Achievements keep you compelled and motivated to continue playing games to earn them. The more achievements the more time a person is likely to spend playing a game to earn them. Some people think achievements are a waste of time. In my opinion they aren't. Achievements add replay value to games, they also inspire you to do things in games that you probably normally wouldn't do.
A fine example of this type of achievement is found in the game called borderlands. A person would probably never attempt this if there was no achievement for it. This achievement is called "You're on a boat!" The Borderlands achievement "You're on a boat!" achievement/trophy Description: I bet you never thought you'd be here. Gamerscore: 15 points To earn this achievement, one has to find a hidden boat on the game and simply walk on to the the boat. This immediately unlocks the achievement, "You're on a boat!" Sounds simple right? Most gamers would probably skip out on doing something like this if there wasn't a achievement/trophy for it. Before achievements/trophies existed, gamers bought games, completed them and most of the time set them aside and decided to play a different game. Some gamers even sold the game and used the cash to buy another game. Which that still happens today. But gamers now have more of a reason to keep the game/s and play through them again. If they are interested in getting the achievements/trohpies and seeing alternate endings, if the game has those. How does achievements/trophies change the gameplay experience? Achievements/Trophies motivate gamers to play games on a higher difficulty. Some games have achievements/trophies that can only be unlocked by playing on a hard difficulty or above. Like for example, the war hero trophy in Resident Evil 5. It can only be obtained, by completing the game on the Professional difficulty. Trust me, that difficulty is a pain. :P I do feel rewarded whenever I pursue a difficult achievement and I get it. Do you?

You guys should track CHOASXIII please. she wants more friends and she says I won't get any cookies if no one tracks her. >.> She says join here to.

Level 70 took long enough :P

Taken from this topic here. http://www.gamespot.com/features/changes-to-the-gamespot-user-leveling-system-6389154/ It's also the latest community blog. http://www.gamespot.com/news/profile-leveling-reveal-6389390 How it works now As with before, there is a daily cap of 2500 XP, but we've completely redone how other XP is earned so that user actions directly contribute to user level: Visiting a GameSpot.com page while logged in: 500 XP (can be earned once a day) Commenting on a story: 20 XP Posting in a forum thread: 20 XP Creating a new comment thread: 30 XP Posting a user blog: 100 XP Earning an emblem/achievement: 50 XP Rating a game: 10 XP Following a game: 10 XP Being followed by another user: 100 XP This is just our first pass of improvements, and we may make additional changes in the near future, but if we do we'll update this story accordingly. Please read the entire article, this was just part of it. Feel free to comment the article I linked to and in this blog please. :P

The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget."- ThomasSzasz This weeks Chalk Talk assignment is about forgiveness. For those of you who are unaware Chalk Talk is a new community feature that will allow bloggers to gain special recognition. This weeks assignment is to write a blog about a gaming publisher, developer, or franchise who you feel has wronged you" and despite their actions you still forgive them and are still willing to care for and support. - You can only select one developer / publisher / franchise to forgive - The blog must be minimum of 500 words and must contain no weird fonts or colors. - Be sure to mark it as editorial so we can see it. Failure to label the blog as editorial will prevent it from possibly being featured. If you have any questions about this weeks assignment please ask them in the comments below. I will be gathering blogs and provided there is a large enough pool of contributions have the first feature up on Friday. Spread the word so we can get user featured content featured again onGameSpot. This was taken from here. There is also a video on that page that talks about it as well. Check it out if you have the time please. :)