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Anonymous Comments Squashed and What to do With a Community Page


On 07/03/2013 at 03:51 PM by Jesse Miller

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If you didn't see Nick's tweet last night, I'd like to let you all know that anonymous comments are no longer possible here at PixlBit!  This is something that we internally (and by we, I'm pretty sure it may have just been me) have been bugging Nick to implement for quite some time.  In what has now been a string of site improvements this one has finally come to fruition.  We encourage civil discourse here at PixlBit, but now you'll have to have an account in order to participate.  While we've had the occasional positive or constructive anonymous comment, the mask of total anonymity has mostly been used by trolls wishing to spew their vitriol on the rest of us. 

As you can see, this pleases me greatly, and I hope you all appreciate this upgrade as much as I do.

On another note, Nick and I have been commiserating in regards to a Community Center here at PixlBit.  The main page plays host too many things including news, reviews, podcasts, features, blogs, comments and more.  Since we've had an influx of community members, it became apparent that we require more space to really let that community shine.

Thus, we'll be working on creating a Community Center of sorts that will be dedicated to and highlight our fantastic community.  The question is though, what kind of features and functions does our community want?  Most other sites have forums and/or gaming groups, and that's something we plan on exploring, but we want to be more unique than that. 

We want to think outside of the box and we want your input.  Let me know in the comments what kind of features and functions you'd love to see in our community center.  We'll at least consider every idea presented and perhaps we'll implement a few of them too.

So bring on the suggestions and as always, Happy Gaming.


 

Comments

Homelessrook

07/03/2013 at 04:01 PM

The ability to build a group would be nice. I had mentioned to another pixlbit member about doing a Insomnia group. Not the game company but the condition.

Jesse Miller Staff Writer

07/03/2013 at 04:09 PM

Groups is something I've been jockying around with Nick a bit, so don't be surprised if that's something that eventually rolls out.

leeradical42

07/03/2013 at 04:11 PM

Sounds like you need some strong sleep medicine rook lol!!!

Homelessrook

07/03/2013 at 04:23 PM

LOL. yea, I was on some but that is a long story. Finally back on some the past two days that does not seem to be working.

Halochief90

07/04/2013 at 02:15 AM

And I for some reason am only on pixlbit after 1am so I'd join that club!

leeradical42

07/03/2013 at 04:06 PM

Well personally im ecstatic that mr anonymous cant attack our staff or community i cant put into words how mad i was at this user coming here with that mess, with that said a community center is a fantastic idea since alit of us just come on to yap about everything not just blogs or reveiws, i think something like a chat room but maybe mix it up not sure how to do it but maybe a way we can talk without having to post blogs but a community center is a awesome idea and im sure you guys will make it great whatever yall decide as long as i can still post my reveiws and blogs im down lol!! And like Homelessrook said maybe have it where we can make clubs like the ps3 or music, or 360 well you get the point.

Jesse Miller Staff Writer

07/03/2013 at 04:09 PM

We certainly wouldn't take the ability to post your blogs - that's one of the greatest things about our community!  We'll actually be finding better ways to highlight these blogs as part of this Community Center.

leeradical42

07/03/2013 at 04:12 PM

Yea that would be cool i like that idea :~)

asrealasitgets

07/03/2013 at 04:25 PM

1UP used to post user blogs on the front page like regular editors. There was a user blog tab or top commented blog, or top rated blog etc. What's hot on Pixlbit right now etc.

Chris Yarger Community Manager

07/03/2013 at 04:10 PM

I'm working out some ideas in my head. I'll let you know though as soon as I get something solidified and reasonable accomplished within my feeble mind. lol

leeradical42

07/03/2013 at 04:14 PM

How about a strategy guide page starring yargz with DarkSouls lol!!! And by the way i haven't seen nothing yet on YouTube your falling behind lol!!!

Matt Snee Staff Writer

07/03/2013 at 04:10 PM

it'd be nice to have a wall we could post little things on and people could comment on, with a character limit, kind of like a facebook/twitter thing that people could just post links or little comments or updates on, because sometimes I want to share little things with people here but not enough to blog about it, like links, or images, or some small gaming thought I have.  that would be nice. 

leeradical42

07/03/2013 at 04:16 PM

Thats actually a real good idea (i like it ) 

asrealasitgets

07/03/2013 at 04:23 PM

I wouldn't mind having a game club. We could build a club around certain games like Animal Crossing. That way if you are new to AC, you can just catch up to Q&A we might have had in that group. A group for JRPGs,  Demon Souls, etc. We could upload screen shots, or youtube videos etc. Maybe an art forum so we can upload photoshop art or something like that. I wouldn't mind having blogging tools for editorial or reviews like the main site editors to make them look nice.

BrokenH

07/03/2013 at 04:43 PM

It's a good idea,Jesse. Most people who take the effort to make an account really want to participate in the community in a positive way.

Sadly anonymous replies is kind of like giving people the option to thumbs up and thumbs down. Aka, it's an avenue for trolls to come out of the woodwork and shit on everything akin to cockroaches.

asrealasitgets

07/03/2013 at 04:50 PM

and that review wasn't even that bad. It was like a 4/5 which is like a 90 or A-. Either way according to the review it is still a must buy game. So weird? Just cuz it wasn't 5/5? WTF?

BrokenH

07/03/2013 at 05:18 PM

I know,man...I know. There was not a single decent reason for anyone to rage over Julian's review. Telling him he shouldn't right reviews professionally just because he gave LOU a 4 out of 5?? That takes a certain breed of zealous fan-boy stupidity.

 Think that's awful though? Watch Raychul Moore's review of Dragon's Dogma on youtube then read the replies. The fan-boys went nuts. Granted, Ray & I have different opinions on DD but she didn't deserve the flak she got merely for voicing her own opinion.

 

asrealasitgets

07/03/2013 at 05:33 PM

I think her condescending tone was what warranted the responses. Had it been a guy with the same tone, he would have received the same angry comments. I would say the game is divisive. You either love it or hate it. I for one loved the open world and combat, pawn system and wierd dark themes. There are more positive than negatives for me, so I loved the game. I never used portals or warping except maybe once or twice. I feel like getting caught at night during walks is a big part of the game, so easily warping back and forth would ruin that. Having more warps available end game would be nice, but you should have enough money to buy warp pebbles or whatever from the dealer that sells them. I think I am a fanboy. I want to rage on her youtube channel too. 

leeradical42

07/03/2013 at 06:42 PM

Nah i want Julian to do a reveiw so i cant go off on him lol!!!!

BrokenH

07/03/2013 at 08:16 PM

I don't agree with Ray personally. So far I'm loving DD and that's without having bought a single warp crystal. 

  To me she doesn't sound condescending, she just sounds annoyed at the game. I think each of us has been there before. Aka, hating a game our friends all loved.

  It's sad in geek culture disliking a particular game can get death & veiled rape threats directed at a reviewer. (Or them being called "fake" for having different tastes) Aren't we all individuals? Last time I checked we were not the hive-minded borg collective. Just saying. lol.

Beerfan

07/03/2013 at 05:28 PM

Awesome.  Glad to get rid of Anon.  As you said, some Anon people did add something constructive, but it seemed more were trolls.  If someone finds something they really like and want to participate, it is easy to setup an account.  Maybe they will stick around too.

Captain N

07/03/2013 at 05:57 PM

I'd love some forums so we can atleast have some gaming discussions. I mean blogs are fine but would be cool to have forums to keep the place booming. Plus a rank system to go with the forums. And does Pixlbit have a Mario Kart 7 Community? If not I'd offer some assistance.

Coolsetzer

07/03/2013 at 06:14 PM

I'd like a forum, too. =) I'd help moderate it for free.

leeradical42

07/03/2013 at 06:49 PM

Yea but forums are so common they said they want something different and thinking outside the box, although im not against forums, i just think it should be something different that other sites dont have.

Nick DiMola Director

07/04/2013 at 08:12 AM

Forums may or may not happen. If they do, they likely won't be exactly as you've seen them in the past. In my experience they often become their own "section," cleanly segmented off from the rest of the site and often the community. I definitely don't want to see our community fragmented like that. I think that there's likely a way to do forums to make them a bit more cohesive, but I'm not 100% sure what that's going to look like yet.

Chunopo

07/03/2013 at 08:51 PM

Gets a plus vote from me, if you guys at pixlbit were members of the mafia I could understand the need to use a 'witness protection' approach to commentary but other wise it would just encourage 'feeding of the trolls'

Chris Iozzi Staff Alumnus

07/04/2013 at 09:30 AM

my local news website used to let you post comments anonymously, it was one of the most deplorable cesspools of negativity I've ever seen. They finally decided to make you use facebook to post comments and suddenly everyone was pleasant as pie. So yeah, this was a good thing.

Travis Hawks Senior Editor

07/04/2013 at 09:32 AM

The best is when those facebook comment sections do get ugly. You can't help but read things with people's actual names on there and wonder what their boss/mom/children must think of them now. 

mothman

07/04/2013 at 08:27 PM

I never liked those analogous comments. I think that comments should be different and..... oh anonymous, never mind. 

Seriously though if someone wants to comment on this site they should have a frikkin' account. When that spineless piece of crap went after Julian for not praying at the altar of TLOU I actually lost it and wrote several scathing replies questioning his parentage among other things but then realized he wasn't worth it.

By "he" I mean the anonymous dipstick, not Julian. :)

Dandichu

07/05/2013 at 02:01 AM

I'm with the above posters on a forum. I'd love to see groups too- maybe even a little live chat applet?

smartcelt

07/05/2013 at 02:06 PM

Groups=yes! Forums=no. Seems like we interact pretty well here without them. Great job on sending the trolls back under their bridges. You know they are plotting a return!

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