Giant Bomb needs YOU to help with Quest Spam! - Quests

#1 Edited by MB (9883 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

...but maybe not in the way you're probably thinking.

Your friendly neighborhood moderators have noticed a disturbing trend lately with how some people are reacting to blogs showing up on the forums from new users who are enjoying the quest feature. Rudeness, posting GTFO or facepalm pictures, and outright name calling and flaming have been permeating throughout the site for the last few days since the feature was launched. Thousands upon thousands of people are having tons of fun with the quests right now, and some of those quests are having the awesome effect of introducing users to features of Giant Bomb that they were previously unaware of, or at least didn't care enough about to use. As we move forward and the site and it's user base grows, this is going to be good for everyone, but while the guys upstairs are busy slaving away over code and energy drinks, we as a community have a lot of work to do as well.

We all know that the blog posting interface could use some work, and ultimately that is what is causing the blog spam. In fact, I took the time to write up a quick tutorial because the UI is so unclear when it comes to attaching blogs to the forums. Unfortunately that takes development time to fix, so until the UI gets overhauled, we are all going to need to work together using the tools that are currently available to us.

Here's how you can help Giant Bomb be a better place when you see a spam blog:

Don't fly off the handle and attack the poster. They probably don't even know they did anything "wrong", and most definitely didn't know there was a way to keep their blog off of the forums. So, no snide remarks, petty insults, lolcats, or any other negativity, please. It helps no one and in the end, that type of behavior does far more damage than a blog that got mistakenly posted to the forums. Such a negative response for a user on their first exposure to the forums is not good, it will not help the site grow, and it will not help the community grow in the positive direction that we all know it can.

Instead of any of the above, do something good and flag the offending blog or post so that the moderation staff can find it. We're pretty on top of things, but help never hurts, and flagging is a surefire way to bring things to our attention quickly.

If you're out of available flagging points, send a group PM to all moderators with a link to the blog. If you can't flag because of all the flagging you've been doing, ask us to reset your karma. We are happy to help you with stuff like that, and it only takes a few seconds to manually adjust. (Note: The PM All javascript is currently broken, we're working on it. In the meantime, this page has links to each mod's profile.)

If you really want to go the extra mile for the benefit of the site, after you flag the blog or PM the mods, direct the user to some helpful links such as the Site Rules & FAQs, my tutorial on the blog user interface, or any other new and relevant information that you think could help.

I'm sure you all know that old adage, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." We would love for you to help out your fellow Giant Bomb users, but if you're not going to take the time to do something positive, then don't say anything at all and simply move on. Users who are unable to restrain themselves and continue with the negativity will soon find themselves with some undesirable attention from the moderation team.

Remember, moderators don't like the spam any more than you do. In fact, we downright loathe it. However, regardless of how you may feel, don't let your emotions cloud your judgment. All of this really applies to everything on the forums and not just quest blog spam, but things are getting bad enough that I figured it was worth a reminder. Follow the golden rule of Giant Bomb and everything will work out for all of us - don't be a dick, dude.

***big thanks to Sweep for the bad ass Luchadeer image...do yourself a favor and follow him and check out his blog, it's always a good read and he's my favorite blogger on Giant Bomb. Thanks Sweep!***

Moderator

#2 Edited by RandomInternetPerson (779 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

Every spam blog i saw i PMed the mods (i am out of flags!) and posted the rules :D! And,man, am i glad that posting rules is going the extra mile to help i was unsure was it spam or not :/!

#3 Posted by Sweep (8094 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

"My name is MB and this is my favourite blog on the citadel!"

I'm getting that printed on a t-shirt.

Moderator

#4 Posted by Yummylee (18125 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

Wow so you actually can run out of flags? O.o I thought that was just a glitch.

#5 Posted by eroticfishcake (7745 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

The usual with me then. Except that I keep running out of flags all the bloody time...

#6 Posted by Drebin_893 (2801 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

Personally I just turned the Quest topics off, so they don't show. That way people that enjoy the feature can enjoy it without me going in their way.

Online

#7 Edited by KamasamaK (2389 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

@Drebin_893 said:

" Personally I just turned the Quest topics off, so they don't show. That way people that enjoy the feature can enjoy it without me going in their way. "

I did this too, but that's not necessarily the spam he's referring to. The blog cross-posting could be in other forums as well, and the quest for creating a topic in Off-Topic caused quite a bit of spam as well.

#8 Posted by BeachThunder (8831 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

@MB: Perhaps a solution would be to just remove the Blog posting quest. Or maybe change the quest to making a non-forum blog only.

#9 Posted by animateria (3250 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

LFG AQS (Anti Quest Spam), any class, must have flags.

But yeah, I made a couple rude remarks after being pretty agitated but after I cooled off I decided the best way to kill those spam threads is to not reply to them at all. Besides a lot of it would die down after the first initial days, just like any video game launch with a jenky online feature. It just needs some sorting out.

That flag button was totally invisible to me until today by the way (even though it was right next to the quote button for crying out loud) thanks for the info.

#10 Posted by Cloneslayer (1507 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

Just pull out the old ban hammer MB.

#11 Posted by Scooper (7880 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

A better solution is to keep the forums and quests away from each other. You shouldn't make a blog or a topic or a post because you want quest XP. You should make one because you want to discuss something. That's why I also think any proposed 'XP for posting' is also a terrible idea.

Keep 'em seperate, yo! No one's gunna read the quest for making a blog and think "Oh wow, I get exp for writing a blog, I'm gunna write up that really interesting thing I've been wanting to write but didn't because there was no reward". They're gunna read it and go "Oh, points for writing a blog? Ok. "yo hi everyone this is a blog, ok bye'".

#12 Posted by Gamer_152 (13235 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

Really good to see how aware the mods are of what's going on in the community and the effort they go to to deliver a proper response. Here's to hoping there's as few flip-outs in response to forum blog posts as possible in the future.

Moderator

#13 Posted by natetodamax (18926 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

The whole "they probably didn't know there was a way to keep it off the forums" argument isn't valid because each of them clicked "Post this blog to the forums"

#14 Posted by MB (9883 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

@natetodamax said:

" The whole "they probably didn't know there was a way to keep it off the forums" argument isn't valid because each of them clicked "Post this blog to the forums" "

Yes - but there is no option not to do it, is there?

Anyway, the point of this thread is that there is no justification for the type of behavior that some of our so-called "senior" users have been exhibiting, and it stops now.

Moderator

#15 Posted by Red12b (8816 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

@natetodamax:
Yeah but most of them might be new to the forum, thus they haven't checked the Forum FAQ which is, on the forums,
Not everyone is as interested in the forums as you are dude.

Good reminder MB, It was due,

#16 Posted by demontium (4698 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

@MB: I bet you I already did something wrong, but I am have not been modded.... yet.

On a serious note, this has been quite annoying. This was not how quests were meant to work. I'll inform if I see it.

#17 Edited by Majkiboy (895 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

I'm one of those that ALMOST posted my first blog entry linked to the forums.. when I had no intention of doing anything like that. SO for this initiative from teh crew I give them KUDOS!
And yeah, follow the golden rule *throws a quick glance at natetodamax* :P
Ofc it's clear to some that have been using the functions quite a bit. But for us that haven't the option NOT to post our blog to the forums is pretty vauge.
You write your blog entry - and you're faced with two options, neither of them won't post your blog to the forums. The third hidden option is to navigate away from that page, it's not very clear on how this process works dude.

#18 Posted by Rallier (1739 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

@Abyssfull said:

" Wow so you actually can run out of flags? O.o I thought that was just a glitch. "

That is there to prevent people from abusing it and flagging everyone. 10 or so users working together could probably "soft ban" the whole forums if it was not the case.

#19 Edited by Astras (973 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

@MB:

Really it's nice and all catering for these new giant bomb users and the quest system is obviously succesful in it's purpose of bringing in new blood to the site which is great, but it's turning the forums into a joke and burying threads bloody fast.

Is it not important to understand the reason that the senior members come to giant bomb and post on the forums? It's a community not a dumping ground for new users to grind xp. The reason I come to this forum is because of users taking the time to discuss gaming which many of my mates can't, the community is so loyal to GB and much harsher than anywhere else ive been on the internet with their opinions which I like, jeez the website was created in contreversy.

Isn't it important to to get user retention by allowing them to see the forums function properly? The forums are not working at the moment!

To be honest theres alot of people getting really fed up with people not interested in the community and destroying the forums, is it so wrong for us to explain to them that we don't want this?
Some of the quests require multiple blog posting's to gain the experience, this is just facilitating the forums getting shit up, and I dont think you can remember every thread you have locked or have any detterent strategy in place?

#20 Edited by MB (9883 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

@Astras: While we can all agree that there are some updates needed to the quest system, there is no excuse for users treating others like that have been, which is the point of this thread. Updates to the quest system and overhauls to the blog UI will take time, but this rampant douchebaggery is something that will not be tolerated. It simply isn't welcome on Giant Bomb and that's all there is to it.

The engineers know that there are updates needed, and they're working on it. Until then, however, we have to work within the confines of the existing infrastructure and that's exactly what the moderators are doing to the best of our abilities.

If you have such a big problem with the quest system or it's current implementation, I suggest you focus your energy on letting the staff know what kinds of improvements and changes you think are needed, and not on flaming users who may not be as familiar with the site as you are. I urge you not to make the mistake of taking your frustrations out on your fellow Bombers. That sort of thing may fly on other sites, but not here.

Thanks.

Moderator

#21 Edited by jakob187 (20657 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

I approve of this message.

Also, anyone who already has blogs: you can simply hit "edit" on your blog, then change one letter...and then save the changes. That's what I did.

#22 Posted by natetodamax (18926 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

@MB said:

" @natetodamax said:
" The whole "they probably didn't know there was a way to keep it off the forums" argument isn't valid because each of them clicked "Post this blog to the forums" "
Yes - but there is no option not to do it, is there?

That is true. There should be a "Dont Post This To The Forums" button.

#23 Posted by Ronald (1182 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

@natetodamax said:

" @MB said:
" @natetodamax said:
" The whole "they probably didn't know there was a way to keep it off the forums" argument isn't valid because each of them clicked "Post this blog to the forums" "
Yes - but there is no option not to do it, is there?
That is true. There should be a "Dont Post This To The Forums" button. "

Or place the "Post this blog to forums" button right next to the "Post Blog" button on the blog draft page, and have it perform both actions. Or place it as a check box beside where it says "Post blog". Or place it as a "Would you like to ALSO...".

#24 Posted by Ronald (1182 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

@Scooper said:

" A better solution is to keep the forums and quests away from each other. You shouldn't make a blog or a topic or a post because you want quest XP. You should make one because you want to discuss something. That's why I also think any proposed 'XP for posting' is also a terrible idea. Keep 'em seperate, yo! No one's gunna read the quest for making a blog and think "Oh wow, I get exp for writing a blog, I'm gunna write up that really interesting thing I've been wanting to write but didn't because there was no reward". They're gunna read it and go "Oh, points for writing a blog? Ok. "yo hi everyone this is a blog, ok bye'". "

Well, actually... I've been fighting with a blog topic for a year writing it halfway, and then rewriting it. The quest might make me dust it off and polish the thing until it is good enough to be a blog post.

#25 Posted by The_Laughing_Man (12081 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

Can we post here to have our karma reset?

#26 Posted by ZombiePie (4789 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

@The_Laughing_Man: Just PM a mod for that.

Moderator

#27 Posted by Addfwyn (1797 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

@Scooper: I have to disagree, I actually wrote some actual blogs and lists that weren't just spam (you can argue whether or not they were interesting) after the added incentive was put up. I just had been meaning to get around to it, and it actually gave me some incentive.

I realize that's a minority though, and it is largely spam.

#28 Posted by RagingLion (1354 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

@MB: That's a pretty awesome message to be getting out there and I love the reasonableness and understanding of what you're saying in all of this. So what I'm basically wanting to say is you're an awesome mod and I hope that the culture that you're expounding will permeate the way the GB community grows now and in the future. Thanks for your hard and good work.

#29 Posted by Astras (973 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

@RagingLion said:

" @MB: That's a pretty awesome message to be getting out there and I love the reasonableness and understanding of what you're saying in all of this. So what I'm basically wanting to say is you're an awesome mod and I hope that the culture that you're expounding will permeate the way the GB community grows now and in the future. Thanks for your hard and good work. "

@RagingLion:
your nose has just got a little bit browner.

#30 Posted by Quater (47 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

See, this is why Giant Bomb is the best damn site on the net. I can't count the number of forums I've been on before where they would barely even speak to you unless you'd spent months grovelling around the longtime posters' feet.

#31 Posted by LordAndrew (13812 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

@BeachThunder said:

" Perhaps a solution would be to just remove the Blog posting quest. Or maybe change the quest to making a non-forum blog only. "

I don't think it's a quest for a forum blog. There are quests for blogs and quests for forum posts, but they're kept separate. A common problem though, is that people don't realize they don't have to post blogs to the forum. The option pops up and they assume they have to select a forum in order for the blog to be posted, not realizing the blog has already been posted at that point.

And others just figure they can about three birds with one stone by posting a blog and making a thread in Off-Topic at the same time. They may not know any better in that case either.

#32 Posted by Willy105 (4663 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

Hopefully this turns this around.

How about making the choice for posting the blog on the forums not the default choice?

#33 Posted by MB (9883 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

I'd just like to chime in here and say we're really proud of you guys for making such a quick turnaround in how the whole Quest system is being received by those who don't care for it (or the resultant spam) too much. It's much appreciated and definitely a step in the right direction. Keep up the good work.

Moderator

#34 Posted by Red12b (8816 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

@Astras said:

"
@RagingLion said:
" @MB: That's a pretty awesome message to be getting out there and I love the reasonableness and understanding of what you're saying in all of this. So what I'm basically wanting to say is you're an awesome mod and I hope that the culture that you're expounding will permeate the way the GB community grows now and in the future. Thanks for your hard and good work. "

@RagingLion: your nose has just got a little bit browner. "

Dude, these guys do an absolutely fantastic job, and they deserve a bit of recognition now and then, grow a pair and say thanks to these dudes for giving up their time to help a website that we all enjoy.

#35 Posted by TwoLines (2593 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

@Red12b said:

" @Astras said:
"
@RagingLion said:
" @MB: That's a pretty awesome message to be getting out there and I love the reasonableness and understanding of what you're saying in all of this. So what I'm basically wanting to say is you're an awesome mod and I hope that the culture that you're expounding will permeate the way the GB community grows now and in the future. Thanks for your hard and good work. "

@RagingLion: your nose has just got a little bit browner. "
Dude, these guys do an absolutely fantastic job, and they deserve a bit of recognition now and then, grow a pair and say thanks to these dudes for giving up their time to help a website that we all enjoy. "

QFT
Great job.

#36 Edited by Mallenbach (3 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

I completely agree with the quest system needing work and it is good to know that issues like this are being discussed and hammered out. I have to say though, some of this is Karmic. Hasn't Jeff said in multiple times on the Podcasts that if its "in the game" its not cheating. Posting blogs for the sake of just getting points doesn't seem much different to me than renting games simply for the easy points.

Let he who doesn't have an Avatar blemish on his record cast the first stone.

#37 Posted by Trachalio (10 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

Thanks for the tutorial man. I wasn't aware that I didn't have to associate my blog post with a forum, so I tried to minimize the impact by putting it in off-topic. Now I know to not do that next time ;)

#38 Edited by Trachalio (10 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

@Astras: I get your point, but isn't it better to help the new people out than insult them? I'd like to participate in the Giant Bomb community more, but after being called a douchbag / retarded because I made a simple mistake (and because I thanked someone who pointed me to this thread) I'm not so sure. Right now the impression they've giving is that the forums here aren't any better, more intellectual, or well behaved than any other gaming forum on the web. Heck, insulting me, because I thanked someone for their help, makes me wonder if it's worse.

I know that's not true, but it's certainly not a great first impression. Heck, threads like this prove to me that there's a great community here, but I was lucky enough to have someone point me to it. Some new people might not be so lucky and never come back because of it.

#39 Posted by VWGTI (1915 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

Man...

A lot has changed while I was away. Props to you MB (and all of the mods) for dealing with this nonsense. Keep this place legit!

#40 Posted by Crimsai (5 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

I also thought it was mandatory to post the blog to the forums. A simple "Hey, you shouldn't have posted that here." Would have been sufficient cause I don't think anyone was intentionally spamming they forums. I can understand why it would be frustrating to somebody who spends a lot of time on these forums to suddenly find a bunch of people littering the place so I apologize if I angered anyone.

#41 Posted by natetodamax (18926 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

@Red12b: I like how you told that guy to grow a pair when you've been heavily praising the mods for the past week or so. lawlz

#42 Posted by Red12b (8816 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

@natetodamax said:

" @Red12b: I like how you told that guy to grow a pair when you've been heavily praising the mods for the past week or so. lawlz "

?
Praise where Praise is due my friend,

Dude, these guys do an absolutely fantastic job, and they deserve a bit of recognition now and then, grow a pair and say thanks to these dudes for giving up their time to help a website that we all enjoy.

Can you read?

#43 Posted by natetodamax (18926 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago

@Red12b: Nevermind, I'm too confused with what I just said that I can't form a proper response.

#44 Posted by Red12b (8816 posts) - 3 years, 27 days ago

@MB:
I think people are starting to be dicks again.

#45 Posted by natetodamax (18926 posts) - 3 years, 27 days ago

@Red12b said:

" @MB: I think people are starting to be dicks again. "

Yep.

#46 Posted by garnsr (83 posts) - 3 years, 20 days ago

I just posted what I guess would be spam, but I figure everyone would just ignore it anyway. I never feel the need to comment on pointless posts, I just figure everyone else works that way, too. I should know better, of course.

#47 Posted by LordAndrew (13812 posts) - 3 years, 20 days ago

@garnsr: People should simply ignore stuff they think is spam, yes. Unfortunately, it seems certain members of our community lack restraint.

#48 Posted by MasturbatingBear (1781 posts) - 3 years, 20 days ago

Well im just gonna go back to flagging.

#49 Posted by Seedofpower (3741 posts) - 3 years, 9 days ago

I'll do my best MB.

#50 Posted by CraveSerenity (6 posts) - 3 years, 8 days ago

To be honest, I was also a little confused by the whole 'Post Blog to Forum' thing. I didn't really have the desire to do so, but I didn't really notice any other option. I've been fortunate enough not to get any angry/rude comments, and everyone's been really helpful so far. You live and learn, and it's nice not getting chewed out for what was an honest mistake. From the looks of it, the mods are pretty dedicated to keeping GB an awesome community to be a part of, and that's pretty special (in my experience, anyway). Thanks, MB!