CSRF Token is Invalid (not a bug, but maybe a suggestion?)

Keep in mind that I have absolutely no idea how websites work, what goes on behind the scenes, or how to implement anything into a workflow. With that being said:

Can the comment box have some sort of indication as to whether or not the CSRF token is invalid? it's not a huge, huge problem but it really sucks to have a whole comment typed out, only to be rejected by the site. For every comment I've made, there have been multiple ones that I've just given up on because of the CSRF token. Usually I'll scroll down near the end of a video to make a comment, and when I get the CSRF token error I just leave the comment unposted. And that's not counting the times I just don't even attempt to make a comment because I figure that the token is invalid anyway.

I like Giant Bomb. And I like being part of the community. With the forums being wiped away from the homepage and the comments being a hassle to make, it feels like that aspect is falling to the wayside more and more. I don't really like that feeling.

It would be more helpful if we just didn’t get the error. I get it all the time and have no idea how to stop it from happening.

It's one of the most annoying problems on the site, especially if you're not paying attention and saving lists as you go along. And if you're a blogger on the site, I'd recommend writing the blog offsite or copying your text so you don't lose it. Because that'll happen. A lot.

And as someone who still comes here for the community more than the videos, I agree. It sucks to see something I enjoy get neglected for the better part of half a decade, but this last year or two, I've realized that's sort of on me. If something's not going to be fixed, it's time to start searching elsewhere for what I'd like a games site to do.

It is definitely a major annoyance if you write something of any significant length and then lose it after clicking the submit button.

I always try to remember to copy any lengthy post before submitting just in case, but that's something people really shouldn't have to do.

Maybe one day it will fix itself :P.

@soulcake: @chaser324: @sparky_buzzsaw: @haneybd87: @the_nubster: How long are you all keeping pages open before seeing this error? It used to be ten minutes but we adjusted it out to two hours quite a long time ago. If you keep a tab open for hours and then try to make a comment, you will most likely run into the error (which is there for a reason). If you're seeing it within a few minutes of opening a tab/window to leave a message, then something is definitely broken and I can try to have an engineer look into it.

@rorie: When it happens to me is when I go to comment on a podcast after listening on Overcast, so that tab was opened seconds before typing in my comment and posting.

@rorie: I’ve never timed it, but I would get it probably between half an hour and an hour. If I get it again, I’ll try to be more specific.

OK, in that case try taking a screenshot and posting it in this thread the next time you see it so we can go back and look at the logs from the exact moment and see if anything funky is going on.

i think the most common usecase where the CSRF error pops up for me, is when i'm watching a video / podcast & decide to post a comment afterwards. It's just not very intuitive to refresh the page between finishing the content & deciding to post a comment on that same page. It's something you have to get burned by for a few times before you remember it.

@rorie: It's usually after watching a video, or because multiple tabs have been kept open (which is a necessity because I can't build any kind of playlist, so I need to keep track of videos I want to watch manually). I understand why it happens, but it would be nice if there was some other way to see that a refresh was needed without trying and failing a comment.