Satirical Articles Need To Be Banned & Stop Advertisement Comments

So I decided to take a break from writing on my own website in search of some news, I did so by visiting N4G: one of the most colourful websites for news variety; however, as I write this a satirical article sits at the top of N4G as the site's hottest article, this is wrong in so many ways. Firstly, the site is called "News 4 Gamers", not "Satire For Gamers" and secondly, it's the most half-assed, piss-poor to get hits. Not only does this prove that complete crap can be published and gain the clown money for doing so, but it also devalues the value of this website's content and to be quite honest, it needs to stop.

I write this as a call to arms aimed at both the community and moderators. Stop this nonsense. The real problem emerges when this tripe gets mixed in with "real" news. It ruins the content of the website. Furthermore, it damages the face of this website in the eyes of newcomers. Imagine being a first-time visitor and seeing "Xbox One To Feature Go-Faster Stripes" as the 'hottest' article on the website. There are so many things wrong with this.

To counter this I suggest the following be done:
- Disallow any satirical pieces from being submitted: add it to the rules.

- Add a separate section for these articles to stop them being posted in the same area as "real" articles/news stories.

I know these measures are small, but the impact of such actions could help this site regain its focus on "News 4 Gamers" and not silly, hit-focused, low-quality 5-minute write-ups that somebody did when they were bored and had low ad-earnings from that month.

So, who is to blame? The community or the guidelines one must abide by to use this website? Well, it's a mixture of both. The community take a piece of the cake by allowing this rubbish to be approved whereas the guidelines for usage aren't strict enough in allowing these pieces to get passed approval. Although the website's submission rules are very strict, this is a hole as anybody can easily write some rubbish using emotive language and a touchy subject that will provoke even the lightest users to give the article a click. And no, it isn't funny. I usually read them thinking "oh, this is brilliant" to realize the content is 100% fake.

Sure, one every now and then is alright, but recently we've seen a flood of these articles and they really have lost their charm. So, as said before, to both the community and moderators, report and satirical piece for being "fake" to stop this nonsense reaching the heights of this website reserved for "real" news. This will only work if everybody abides by it.

A similar problem is the outburst of advertisement comments we've seen lately. Has the registration process changed, because I could've sworn that I haven't seen so many in such a short period of time previously. This is a developing problem, too. N4G has become a target for spam-bots which advertise low-rate websites. Tackle this by changing the registration process, stop satirical pieces and this website will return to what it was a few months ago: a website for gaming news and reviews, not a hit-based crapshack.

Please just stop this nonsense, post any thoughts you may have below. Do you agree?

[iamnsuperman]

I agree 100%

[Cam977]

I've added more to increase the quality. It no longer resembles a forum post, and with regard to your comment, these two issues are really going out of control.

Advertisement comments are increasing and so are satirical pieces, both of which need to end.

[Gimmemorebubblez]

I see what you mean but their is nothing wrong with a GOOD satirical piece. I agree with the ad comments. Nice blog.

[zeal0us]

While I'll admit satirical pieces are increasing(not by much tho), I don't however think they need to be banned.

I doubt those advertisement comments will ever end unless a new comment system is implemented that requires all comments to be approved before being posted.

[DarkBlood]

and that would turn me off over time if i have to wait for my comment to be approved.

also including that approval moderaters could abuse it and only allow certain comments (im speaking in terms of fanboys here)

[nukeitall]

Satire isn't newsworthy. In addition, I think opinion pieces should be in it's own section with a stricter set of requirements.

There are way too many poorly written opinion pieces riddled with grammar mistakes and poorly researched content.

[LostDjinn]

I completely agree.

The moderators should work harder! Damn slack mofos. They should implement an agreement at their induction to moderator status. Something along the lines of if you slack off you agree to a cage fight with Cat (and she's been know to eat the losers'skin before in such matters. Just to instill fear in her subordinates).

Seriously though, satire isn't something to get too upset about. Spam comments I can agree with though. MAC an IP bans should be carried out in those cases. Even then
you'll never get rid of all of them. ((Please note this doesn't mean nothing should be done to address the situation (It's merely a statement of fact). That argument is redundant. It's just an excuse to do nothing and regulation is required when it comes to any community.)

The one thing I would like to see is the submission section treated a little more strictly. To post rules/guidelines and then not enforce them is ridiculous. Seriously, why state that something is unacceptable just to turn around and allow it to pass?

Anyway, I feel I've already earned the wraith of the staff so I'll just be on my way. :p

Edit: For edits and stuff.

[WildArmed]

"The one thing I would like to see is the submission section treated a little more strictly. To post rules/guidelines and then not enforce them is ridiculous. "

This.

Too bad we have nothing against satire, or dozens of 'opinion pieces' in our rules/guidelines.. Only if we did.

[Christopher]

***To post rules/guidelines and then not enforce them is ridiculous. Seriously, why state that something is unacceptable just to turn around and allow it to pass?***

We don't let things go through by choice. It happens. Why not get more mods? Because that would cause more issues than it solves. Why not spend more time moderating? Because we all have lives outside of N4G and the only thing that leads us to devote our time to this site is our desire to do our best to make this site what it could be. In the process, we get the complaints, we get blamed, we get attacked for doing exactly what the community asks of us.

Now, here's some questions: Why does it have to be just the mods who make this site better? Why must the burden of the quality of the site sit on the shoulders of <0.001% of the site, people who only moderate and have no power otherwise? Why do people want better, but don't report on the issues they have a problem with? Why does something get approved that shouldn't and the mods get blamed instead of your fellow community members of whom you could ask the same question?

Anywho. We've had some recent discussion on how to better the site on our end. We do it all the time. I'd love to see things implemented that make it easier to manage this site and with updated rules that allow us to prevent the site from turning into OP4G (opinion pieces for gamers). But, there's only so much we can do. We have as much control over what gets on this site as you do. We just spend more time arguing with people over it and looking for it. Time spent doing that rather than actually talking about the hobby we love.

[LostDjinn]

"Now, here's some questions:" Fire away.

"Why does it have to be just the mods who make this site better? Why must the burden of the quality of the site sit on the shoulders of <0.001% of the site, people who only moderate and have no power otherwise?" Have you checked my activity history? How completely pointless would it be to complain (point out a problem) about the submission section without at least attempting to make the most of it? Point is a large amount of the time I spend on this site is in said section.

"Why do people want better, but don't report on the issues they have a problem with?" Really? I can PM you links to pieces that have a list of reports a mile long (and are in clear breach of posting guidelines) that I know for a fact mods have been made aware of (again I can provide proof if required).

"Why does something get approved that shouldn't and the mods get blamed instead of your fellow community members of whom you could ask the same question?" In most cases it's because sites use their staff (which also have N4G ) to force their pieces through. Or people looking to push their agenda that want to validate their bias/argument (no matter how far from the truth the piece in question may be). It creates a situation where a minority hold the majorities interests hostage. It makes it hard for mods in one respect but also easy for them in the same way.

I'll leave it with you to work out what the last bit means. It may seem heavy handed but it's the only way to affect change.

[Christopher]

***Have you checked my activity history?***
***I can PM you links to pieces that have a list of reports a mile long***

You seem to think by my use of "people" to mean specifically you. I'm talking about people in general who complain about this site and in relation specifically to the part I quoted.

Having said that, you should see the context in which I reply. Your response was to say that moderators do not enforce the rules. A focus that is common when the problem isn't with moderation, but with the community as a whole.

Speed limits, they exist and are enforced by local law enforcement agencies. Yet, every day, millions of people break the speed limits and do not get caught. Does that mean the police are not doing their job or does that mean that the issue is so pervasive and impossible to contain that it is a situation where it will never stop?

So, are the problems on this site an issue with enforcing the rules, or is it a problem with the community members continuing to do as they please, knowing that there is no way for the moderators to catch all instances where they break the rules?

And, much like the police, it doesn't matter who's fault it is, you posted exactly as others do, you blamed the lack of moderation for these rules first. Which is why I responded to you as I did.

Did I at any point say you didn't help the community? No. Did I say you specifically were an issue? No, I questioned why the blame falls at the feet of the moderators first and foremost when without them the issues would be much much worse.

Perhaps you didn't intend to do as such, but that's how it was presented in your comment above. I don't blame you for it, but sometimes I get to ask those who make the comments why they do what they do and hope in the process they understand that what they don't see is how good they have it because of moderation as opposed to seeing the flaws that still exist and blaming moderation for them being there.

***It creates a situation where a minority hold the majorities interests hostage. It makes it hard for mods in one respect but also easy for them in the same way.***

I've banned more than a few accounts who have only been made to support and push through one site's content. I would love to have a system where I could associate accounts with a domain and prevent them from ever approving such material. But, what happens is new accounts are created and things go on. I'm not allowed to ban users permanently for this. There is no precedence for banning a site for this and that's out of my power anyway.

What I tend to do is do my best to focus on content that is not within those confines and limit the amount of content from those who do this.

I should note, the reason this blog came up is because I am performing a bit of a test. To see how much you guys actually realize I, specifically, do here to keep certain content from taking over the site. It took only 12 hours for this blog to be made when I started it. My reasons for doing this are to get the community aware of this and to hopefully get the owners aware of how much work it takes to do this on a daily basis on my part and the general work of the mods.

If I was to, all together, stop doing what I do, there would be about 5-7 sites who would dominate, on a regular basis, the top of the page.

[LostDjinn]

Alright, we'll do it this way.

http://n4g.com/news/1320057...

Here's an example. A piece that was passed incredibly quickly and that was used to defend/justify/validate an agenda. It was false. It had its' title changed by the author/submitter to try and escape accountability. It has many reports. It was also failed...after a time.

Do you see who failed it?

The point isn't that the mods didn't do their jobs. It's that there doesn't seem to be any course of action taken against people who get caught abusing the system.

Reread my posts. When you get to: "It creates a situation where a minority hold the majorities interests hostage. It makes it hard for mods in one respect but also easy for them in the same way" it should make sense now. It's not that the mods don't do their job. It's that they're not allowed to play hardball.

(On a personal note most of the staff know I appreciate what they do. I have no desire or ability to be a mod as I'd be far too militant for the role. ie: "Them's the rules and you broke 'em now face the hammer" type stuff)

[Christopher]

***The point isn't that the mods didn't do their jobs. It's that there doesn't seem to be any course of action taken against people who get caught abusing the system.***

That's because there are no rules that would lead to a restriction for that and mods do not make the rules. Just as a person can submit something with errors every time, but as long as they fix the ones requiring they be fixed when reported, there is nothing we can do. In this case, it's a "unfixable" report and there are no rules specific to requiring a ban or restriction for having such things.

Doesn't really matter now as I've been told to allow anonymous/unsourced rumors now since people complained.

Again, this ties into why you saw the article that the blog writer is talking about at all. If my hands are going to be tied, then I think it's about time the ones making decisions start seeing what the problems with this site really are when I take a break from part of what I do.

[knifefight]

I think another issue is when the mods are completely silent about something.

I mean, I've PMed you and been very courteous and professional about stuff, but never get a response. Some things seem like they were dealt with unfairly (according to the N4G rules) and when simply PMing or creating a ticket asking for an explanation, all you get is silence. There's a right way and a wrong way to run a community, and that's the wrong way, dude. How is that supposed to make contributors feel?

I can understand not answering certain PMs and Tickets, especially when they're like "Hey u why u delet my story it was good and u prolly just don't understand it well you suck!!!" See, but that's not what I do. I ask very nicely about the rules/regulations which are violated, primarily so that I can *better understand* what will and won't get reported next time around, and what I should and shouldn't report myself.

Yet my cordial approach is not worth a simple reply. That will eventually contribute to problems within any community =/

[Christopher]

@knifefight:

0 PMs from you in the last year to me.

You submitted a ticket 3d ago, Nineball replied to it.

You submitted a ticket 12d ago. You replied and acknowledged the change being made that you requested.

You submitted a ticket 18d ago. Emilio replied to it.

You submitted a ticket 29d ago. Moderator handled the issue you submitted (duplicate request).

You submitted a ticket 33d ago. MOderator handled the issue you submitted (duplicate request).

---

Not sure how we haven't been responding to you when needed. Otherwise, your tickets have all been in addition to usual duplicate reports or the like on submissions. Not something requiring an answer to a query or the like.

[knifefight]

In the case of you personally, I sent one 105 days ago. It is titled "Question about a submission".

Oddly, it was about something lumped in with satirical articles -- as it was indeed humorous -- but the point of the article was much smarter than that, a social commentary on games journalism not needing to grasp at every rumor. Yet I never really received any explanation about anything. I theorize that it was almost *too* good, in that the subtle point wasn't noticeable to everyone (including Nineball). That might not be true, but it's the feeling that comes forward. I understand a dislike of 100% pure satire, but when there's an underlying message, that's less satire and more just an opinion piece with humor.

...And if it's not, I would have loved some kind of explanation rather than wasting my time typing all of this to no one. =/

I can paste the entirety of the PM if you want, or I can re-send it. Or take a screenshot of it.

Later, I created a ticket 67 days ago for a story that had been mistakenly failed.

http://n4g.com/news/1277043...

Here's the text of the ticket:

Was mistakenly failed as a "compilation of news."

There are two mistakes with this:
1) This is a monthly blog. It's not just news. There are interest pieces like the Tales survey, the personal story of finding out about Remember Me's skipping of Japan, and the commentary within the news bits.

2) Even the parts that are news, most of those stories are not on N4G. The headliner is not, for example. The Japanese game release schedule is not on N4G. The images and commentary on the Japan-only games are not on N4G. The Tales rankings are not on N4G.
If these pieces were split up Valay-style into separate stories, they would pass as separate submissions, so this reason for cancelation is a mistake, I think.

This was not filed under "News" because it's not all news. If it were placed in a periodical, some parts would be in news and some would be elsewhere.

Thank you.

----------------
^ I don't feel that I'm being rude or being a pest here. These are legitimate questions being asked very cordially. I explain my reasons intelligently and professionally. It's disheartening as a member of 4 years to basically be blown off sometimes. =/

Again, I'm not angry, but wanting to know what the heck it is about certain things that was the problem. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone. I found these two submissions to be mistakenly failed. Heck, if I were a mod, I would undoubtedly also fail some stories that I shouldn't once in a while. As a contributor, I make mistakes, and I don't expect the mod team to be free of them either. And so we arrive at this discussion ^_^

[Christopher]

No clue about the 105 day ago PM you sent (I don't have one from you) and no clue what it is referencing. So, I can't speak towards it.

Re: http://n4g.com/news/1277043...

As explained, it's an aggregate of news, that N4G already aggregates. And, when we say this, we mean that the majority, if not all, of the news presented is already on N4G and the site is intending only to re-post old news as a collection of news. That fails based on the fact that it's old news, but also denoting that since N4G already aggregates the news, summaries of various news items are unnecessary and is not a valid reason for posting them.

***Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone. I found these two submissions to be mistakenly failed. ***

The one I responded to was not mistakenly failed. Going in with that attitude might be why you don't receive a response as often as you like. We get this a ton, especially the "you made a mistake, unfail it". People don't like it when their submissions are failed. I deal with 20+ PMs a day on this. Sometimes we make mistakes, but 99.99% of the time, there is no mistake and people just need to realize that no matter how much they want their submission on N4G, it's not appropriate for N4G for one reason or another at that time.

Now, you may disagree. Cool. But, that's why the mods are here. They're not here to be agreeable with people. They're here to do what is needed and deal with the complaints from people who will obviously want their submissions to never be failed.

[knifefight]

Thank you for the reply :)
Re: "As explained, it's an aggregate of news, that N4G already aggregates."
^ Well see, that's what I didn't understand, because of how much was in there that was more than news. If the grounds were that there is not enough new news, then I would expect that to be said. But since it was not even filed as a news story to begin with (Article), can't you see why this surprised me.

To you, it might be crystal clear. But obviously to the submitter, it was not clear. Your job here is communication based, and a necessary part of that is seeing someone else's perspective and being able to communicate clearly. Thinking that the one-sentence slap-on within the report was enough shows a mechanical approach to the situation, and if you're handing communication with a person the same way you'd handle communication with a computer, that is where you get the very problems you are describing in your posts. The things that bother you, the things you complain about that people don't get about your job (which is very time consuming and difficult), would likely be helped by better communication.

Re: "Going in with that attitude might be why you don't receive a response as often as you like."

^ My stating that everyone makes mistakes is to let you know that I was not angry about it, the way some people undoubtedly are when they message you. I wasn't "going in with that attitude," I was just saying hey, I make mistakes here, so I'm not mad if you did too.
And if you did NOT, then by all means correct me and my obviously mistaken understanding about what qualifies as an article versus news and the like. That way, I'm not sitting here with 0 confidence as to whether a submission was done correctly, heh ^^;

(More coming, the thing is giving me a character limit error.)

[knifefight]

Re: "We get this a ton, especially the "you made a mistake, unfail it". People don't like it when their submissions are failed. I deal with 20+ PMs a day on this."
^ Again, my PMs and tickets are not 'you made a mistake, unfail it," but "I *think* you made a mistake." I was very clearly open to the idea that I could have been mistaken myself. You seem to be lumping me in with a bunch of entitled hotheads that harass you unnecessarily :/
Don't let my screen name fool you ^^;;

Re: "people just need to realize that no matter how much they want their submission on N4G, it's not appropriate for N4G for one reason or another"
and
Re: "...that's why the mods are here. They're not here to be agreeable with people. They're here to do what is needed and deal with the complaints from people who will obviously want their submissions to never be failed."

^ See, again, you're projecting other people onto me here. While I would obviously prefer to see a submission succeed, the better thing for me is future submissions. You seem to think that all of these are a fight with you. They are not. If I've read you wrong, let me know on that point. You've gotta realize that not everyone is looking to pick a fight and not everyone feels like you owe them approvals.

When I created a ticket about the Remember Me post, obviously I wasn't understanding what was different about it. From where I was sitting the unique content and perspective were enough for a story filed under Article that being a "news aggregate" seemed like a mistake.

If you take the approach of, in your words, "But, that's why the mods are here. They're not here to be agreeable with people." then you assume it's always a fight. And if you assume it's always a fight, then don't be surprised when you get your aforementioned 20+ PMs a day and rude, jerky attitudes from people. You don't deserve it, but treating everyone like a complainer isn't gonna solve the problems you describe.

Anyway man, thank you for responding here, thank you for talking to me about this stuff. I hope things can become gradually easier for you guys on the mod end of things and in turn, us on the contributor end as well.
Cheers.

[Christopher]

***The things that bother you, the things you complain about that people don't get about your job (which is very time consuming and difficult), would likely be helped by better communication. ***

No, they wouldn't.

First, it's not my job to communicate as the community desires. My job is to administer the rules of the site as appropriate. I could write five paragraphs explaining why a submission is failed. You know what that turns into 9/10 times? A multiple response, novel-length debate on why I'm wrong.

Look, all of the community aren't annoying people who just want their way. But the majority of people who submit for a site or just want their post through regardless (which is a good number of people who submit to N4G, btw) will take the time to not hear what is being said and try to find some "reason" why their post should be approved even when presented with the how and why of its failings.

Example: This series of comments right here. You are debating the hell out of why I didn't respond to you (one of them I have no clue about) and expecting that because of the lack of response on these 2 items that "I should communicate better" as a whole and that "that would solve many of my issues".

Are you kidding? I spend more time communicating with people on this site than I can explain. I don't have all the time to debate with people on why their submission was failed, why, and why they think it shouldn't have been failed. If I communicated more, I'd do zero moderating. Zero.

You see two issues of yours when I submitted multiple items above where you were responded to and/or otherwise handled without issue. Yet, you want to talk about these two items as if they negate all the communication and otherwise "listening" that is done by the moderators.

No matter what I do on this site, I'm only going to be seen as a good "admin" when there is nothing to complain about. And, that's not my job either. I'm here to administer the site and that's it. People aren't going to like it, people aren't going to understand it (or, in most cases, they do understand it but they don't care and will complain about it anyway), and no matter how much I communicate, no one is going to like the end result at least half the time.

***See, again, you're projecting other people onto me here.***

I'm projecting on a person who has a ton of communication with the moderators but seems to think that two items weren't handled and therefore "we have issues with communicating" in general.

Do you realize that if I took the time to explain every decision I make on this site in detail, it would only serve to waste my time that results in a ton less time moderating and will still have people debating with me for days on why their submissions were failed or why they were restricted or why they lost a bubble and why hasn't X, Y, and Z person also lost a bubble and on and on and on.

I respect your opinion, but you have to understand that coming out and saying "you guys should communicate better" without understanding how much time we have to do what we do and how much we already communicate with people is akin to me telling you how to write the gaming news when you already know what you're doing, there are things you know that I don't, and there are elements I don't understand that you do.

[knifefight]

Buddy, look, I know that you do a lot here.
I know that you do more with this site than anyone else (that I know of). And I wanna say that N4G is way better now than it was 2 or 3 years ago, without question. Moderating is a thankless job, but I for one am glad that you do what you do.

Your job sounds like it sucks :(

Re: "No, they wouldn't."
Well then okay, I'm wrong. In communication, in general, people deal with you the way you deal with them. Perhaps N4G is different than anything else and I can not possibly understand it. I was offering sound advice to help you deal with the problems you describe. Most people on N4G don't HAVE the problems that come with moderation and administration, so it's hard for them to fully grasp your position. All I was doing is trying to help you here. It can be hard for anyone to read from someone else' viewpoint, so I offered the POV of a contributor. (Though apparently a different one than is common o_o)

I am not continuing to debate my submissions, as you said, I am telling you why I thought what I thought. They're in the past, but one can learn from the past. I'd never seen anything failed for those reasons before, and I think it's perfectly understandable that someone might need more clarification than one sentence and ignored tickets. I get you now. I see it now. I'm not campaigning for those items, I'm using them as examples.

And that's what most conversation is. Communication is a *part* of every job (that's why most colleges require at least a base level comm course), so I was just trying to lend a hand -- to help you see something you might not see. Wasn't nitpicking or trying to get some belated justice here.

Anyway, brother man, I'm worried that you think my digging up examples from my own past was meant in like, a"HaHA! Look upon your siiiins" or some kind of mockery, but really, that's all I have to go on here. I definitely apologize if I hit a personal chord or if I ended up being too hypothetical about a level of busy that just can't be comprehended without having done it.

It was meant primarily as advice, "To help you help yourself," but if the advice is no good, then it's no good, and at least I've done what I could.

That rhymes, so it's probably true.

[zerocrossing]

I disagree regarding satirical articles, good satire is still relevant it's just the low brow crap we usually get that needs to stop, but I'd much rather that than needless "top (insert numerical value) of (insert game, franchise, console or whatever) articles".

But I couldn't agree with you more when it comes to those damn ads.

[gamer42]

I report as many of those ad comments as I possibly can, but they just won't go away.

[Pozzle]

I reported one a few hours ago, and when it was removed, a new one popped up under it a few minutes later. D:

Something definitely needs to be done about them. Does N4G have a CAPTCHA when you register? That might help weed out some of the spam advertisers.

[LtSkittles]

Pozzle, yes, it does.

[ravinash]

Does it make any differece when you report a comment which is spam to when you report the person.
A current one at the moment is DongJSlattery who has been spamming for 4 days now.
I've reported the comments when I see them and then I reported his account.

At what point does this account get blocked?

I realise he'll probably just create a new account, but I would like to think we make it as hard for him as possible.

[Nicaragua]

I totally disagree. Satire has its place as a commentary on gaming news just as it has its place as a commentary in real news.

Satire on this site is a miniscule fraction of the total submitted content and in my opinion that variety is a good thing.

The people who seem to get all butt hurt over it are people who either don't get the joke, or don't like that their console of choice is the butt of the joke. No-one is forcing you to read it and the other 99% of stories will cater to your tastes, so just move on.

[Maddens Raiders]

As soon as I saw this title who knew who the author was lol. Take it easy - we're talking about video GAMES. There's nothing wrong w/ a bit of satire in gaming news or any kind of news, jeez.

[Harpers_Ferry]

The same could be said of opinion pieces, because "Chuck from Oklahoma's top 10 reasons Xbox One will win next gen" is certainly not news. Basically, I think if we're going to embrace a pure news format, there's really no reason not to go for broke. I mean, this very blog post is simply your opinion on satire pieces, but you had the decency to make it a blog post rather than a damn article, which sadly, probably would have gone through.

Having satire/opinion/tribute pieces restricted to blogs would certainly reduce clutter in the news article listings. Additionally, those simply looking for hits would either have to post legitimate news, or create a blog post that entices to the reader to click into their site, looking for more works of a similar flavor.

[wishingW3L]

the funny thing about satirical articles is that no one realize what they are because most people only read the tittle and that's it, so then we have a clusterfk in the comment section.