this site is overrun by PS3 fanboys. That's why if you say something like "Forza ultimate edition upsets me" it will get marked as trolling... cause that's what PS3 fanboys would do to that comment. /s

I got debubbed down to one bubble because I disagreed with an article saying Reach raised the graphics bar for FPSs.

I say remove the bubble system altogether (the trolls will just make multiple accounts anyway, and as you see here a lot of good conversation gets censored if it might say anything bad about a fanboy's game/console of choice) just allow the agree/disagree option available, the top five comments should then be seen before you click on the "comments" tab.

i agree change the stupid mods system change the bubble system and add back the open zone ive been on 5 bubs fa the longest the minute sony move came out ive lost 2 bubs what gives i dont troll none what so ever but the minute some doesnt ya comment they call it personal attack they dont disagree no more they just holler foul play and boom u lost play really!!!!!!!!!!! and ive been a member for 2 yrs this is a slap in the face to all us older members

Really don't like to whinge about things like this but there was no reason to ban most of those people or mark them for trolling, yes they were negative comments but they were fair and in a negative article! N4G mods have ban hammered any body speaking out against turn 10s greedy and corrupt practices. When will they get the picture that an open zone is needed for the actual trolls like Omega4 etc, who by the way, trolls harder than anyone and still has an account! WTF N4G?? If i hear one more person spurt out that this site is PS3 freindly or SDF haven I now have a link to prove the contrary, seriously there was no need for any of this.

I have 1 bubble :D

Wait? Are you complaining that there is moderation going on?

I looked at those comments and all that I saw was a bunch of immature trolling.

They seemed marked appropriately.

Aliens

'Cant we all just get along?'

Lets all pretend everything is okay. Lets all say nothing but positive things about everything even if we thing they are lame or unfair. <--- this seems to be the only way to get ahead with bubbles on this site. No one is allowed a negative opinion about anything, even if it is painfully true.

Bubbles get voted down by users. Some users have more time and accounts on their hands than anyone else on this site. You are right, it could be over-zealous mods attacking bubbles to defend their favorite console. I think this has happened to me in the past... but I think the main problem with the bubble system is the users (I wont name anyone) that have multiple accounts. I am not talking about two or three accounts... But I believe there are people on this site, so addicted to defending their brand they have 10 or twenty accounts.

You will notice this by calling out resident trolls. Some of them you get away with it and you don't lose bubbles. Some strike back with a vengeance and you do lose bubbles.

Most of my comments on this site have an overwhelming agree to disagree ratio. To me, that means I should have more bubbles than 5. But I don't... I struggle to stay at 5.

I love this blog. This is something that needs to be talked about, but can't be talked about in the comment section. I guess we could discuss it in the forums... but it will go largely unnoticed. I don't think it is all mods... but the moderation has to be called out just for things like Omega4 not being permanently banned from N4G. I know people who have been banned for less. The other day a friend messaged me upset about being banned and posted me his comment. It was such a level headed troll-free comment and he was banned. As usual, I directed him to Cat. She is a very fair mod. She will tell you when you are wrong, and fix it if you are right. Turns out he was banned "by mistake" and immediately unbanned.

^The point: There are mods that abuse. There are people that will abuse any time they are given power, but the only way this will go unchecked is if people don't question them and write blogs like this. I don't see anything wrong with this and it only can make our favorite site better. I just wish we could get more moderators feedback on this subject.

Thanks to Colombo for answering a little, but I would like to see more discussion.

So this is huge so its coming in 2 parts lol.

Ok since you guys want a little more info, a peak behind the curtain I guess I can fill in some information.

So first up let me just say that most of those comments were nuked by me. Now the reason why so many were collapsed is two fold. The first is volume, when I checked on the reported comments I saw that the vast majority were problematic so I decided to just clear house because I had some spare time. Secondly when we collapse a comment it hides all replies linked to said comment, and there were a number of comments I hid that had huge reply chains.

Now I can tell you right now I did not ban or remove anyone’s bubbles if they were marked as spam or trolling, in general I only ever do one or both if the comment is foul language, attacks another member for whatever reason and is a rude remark in general. The only time I do a short ban for a trolling comment is when the rest of the comments are on point and have created a good conversation and the trolling comment ruins said conversation and tries to start a fight then I’ll throw out a two day ban.

I’ll also freely admit I do not own a PS3, I own a 360 and a PC, I use my PC the most for gaming merely because I have a Press Steam account so I enjoy a lot of free games. I have however never insult or called the PS3 or any piece of software its released as garbage or bad because it’s a PS3 title, that would be just silly. Nor do I care about Forza 3 or GT5, I dislike simulation racers and which one is better is of no real concern to me. I do however enjoy a good tussle over how Halo is better then KZ :P.

I speak very rarely on anything Playstation because its not something I own and I don’t want to talk about something I don’t fully know about.

As for deletion of comments in general, let me just say that our goal is to foster a better community, a better environment for all members, our goal is not allow everyone’s voice to be heard like this was the great Greek forums of the past. We try to get rid of comments that will cause conflict so we can slowly get a more mature atmosphere around here so that debates will always stay civil.

So for instance if you say. “LOL Forza 3 screwing over their fanbase just for more sales and to compete with GT5!” I am going to delete it because its both immature and will most likely cause a fight.

If however the person said, “I have to say that I really hate this move, while I get that the content is there to attract new customers they should at the very least offer the content as DLC for the people who bought the game already. Especially with GT 5 coming out soon.” I would leave it alone and most likely bubble you up, because you presented your view in a mature manner and if someone left a rude rebuttal I would delete that instead.

Omega4 has a lot of his comments deleted, and while I will not go into detail he has been punished before for his actions. We however like to give people a slap and then let them get in the sandbox so to speak. We hate to perm ban people because we hope that after one banning period they’ll shape up.

I have 1 bubble and I have no idea why :(

@3XP - Okay then, tell us how you really feel.

I must agree with you though.