This is a re-post from a blog I wrote for 11x2, but I think you may find it useful!
-Cat
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I struggled with this. What would be the most truly cringe-worthy title for this blog? I hope you're satisfied.
There have been a few earnest inquiries about submissions and their heat lately, so I wanted to cover a few things.
First, how does the heat algorithm work:
a. unique views
b. unique clicks
c. comments
d. time
I'm assuming you are familiar with a-c. The last one (time) is often overlooked- if you have 200 comments, clicks and views over a week, that story is not going to have nearly the same heat as one that has half as many comments, clicks and views in one day.
Next, something we refer to as "artificial heat inflation". This can happen in a couple ways:
1. Comment spamming.
This is the least elegant form of artificially inflating the heat, dropping a bunch of one word, useless comments from dummy accounts onto a submission. It'll give the submission a bit of a boost, usually enough to get it to the front page and sometimes enough to rocket it up higher.
Typical consequence: submission dropped to 0 and frozen, commenters banned, trust rank dropped. On rare occasions where user(s) associated with a specific site do this, the site is blocked from the network.
2. Manipulating the clicks/views
This is what I'll call "how to build a bomb" - in that I'm not going to outline how this one works for you. ;) It can be done, it's nefarious wizardry, and it alters the heat so much that it is no longer an accurate reflection of actual interest.
Typical consequence: submission dropped to 0 and frozen, restrictions/ban, site blocked from the network.
And finally, just to throw you for a loop:
What is NOT artificial heat manipulation:
Effectively using social media.
If a submission is posted to FB, twitter, google+, or similar and the user has a pretty good network going the heat is going to go up as people visit 11x2.
That's important - the heat doesn't go up just because a link was shared. It goes up when people visit 11x2. It goes up even more if those folks click the link to read the whole story, or if they leave a comment. Remember:
a. unique views
b. unique clicks
c. comments
Now, that said, our current heat algorithm was divined before social media had such an impact within our network. As a result, social media is occasionally more overpowered than we'd like and this balance is something that DragonFly is working on. It has been tweaked over the past few years, but it's not a static situation.
But how do we KNOW, you might wonder, which of these methods someone is using? Suffice it to say, admins can. We can view all the activity on a submission and with a quick glance it's obvious if it's nefarious wizardry or interesting tweets.
I hope this is helpful. Mostly, I hope it removes unnecessary mystery and mitigates conflict amongst users. <3
Thanks, guys!
Cat
“Is DokeV real?” We sat down with a developer at Pearl Abyss who agreed to speak with us about the game’s long silence, the team’s ambitions, and whether fans should still believe in DokeV.
I'm a big fan of Black Desert, and the last Crimson Desert gameplay demo I saw was epic. I believe it came out a few days ago? Its almost 30 minutes and well worth the watch.
So I will give PA the benefit of the doubt.
That was excessive. And kind of painful. I get wanting to get some clarity on things, but badgering what sounds to be a developer - as opposed to some higher up who is actually calling the shots - feels like the very definition of "misplaced frustration".
I don't see how anyone could see being *that* adversarial as a way to get anything other than even more silence. Hopefully the fact it yielded nothing will make those at The Gamers Lounge opt not to try that again if somehow such an opportunity presents itself in the future.
Senior Director and Video Game Industry Advisor at Circana Mat Piscatella on social media revealed the average household income for people buying video games in 2025.
Median household income was about $84k in 2025. That means it's likely that higher income families buy more hardware for multiple people in the home while lower income stick with just one. It's not an expansion of market reach, which is what hardware sellers truly care about. They want more hardware in more households, not necessarily multiple in a single household (not that it's bad, just not an increase of market reach).
Feel like I can’t even afford a good setup anymore make about $120. Would love to upgrade. Just getting insanely expensive
"Studio Cima is pleased to announce that its story-driven action platformer, The Perfect Pencil, is available today on PC (Steam Deck Verified) and Nintendo Switch " - Studio Cima.
There has only ever been one time I can personally recall when a story had undue heat, and it was a pointless flappybird guide. Other than that, I don't think that this has been much of a problem here, but that's only to my knowledge. I can't speak for everyone else.
I think the real problem here is unscrupulous approving of pretty much any article that comes along leaving us with endless list articles, multiple articles covering the exact same thing almost word for word, and other non-gaming news. That's more of a problem in my opinion.
Sometimes I get my mates to click on a submission once approved (tell them to do so via whatsapp etc).
Or sometimes I tell the few mates on here to comment (enough to get it to 50 degrees). They tend to be proper comments, the contents of which I have no control over.
Is that alright?
I don't use bots or all that shiz. Tbh, it tends to bring more traffic in and I know a few mates now you peruse N4G a lot as a result of my indirect recommendation.
As you can see from my last 3 submissions, I'm hardly getting massive traffic lol (cries in corner).