" The problem with giantbomb is that everybody is so boring these days and there's just an endless brief of generic MW2 threads or yet another thread about what somebody thinks about an upcoming game. The fun of internet forums is all gone, basically. "

Good to see someone being pro-active with their problems instead of just sitting here complaining. 
 
I've been away from the site for a couple of months and heard rumours of a community area where I could catch up or see whats been going on. UUnofrtunately it took nearly half hour of digging to find the damn thing! A specific area where people can point to and be proud if they appear would be awesome.

Awesome Idea!

I like the ideas presented in this topic as well. However, I said it multiple times over my time here, I don't blog on this site simply because of the way the it uses up the width of one's monitor. I like formatting my posts in a way that's pleasing to people's eyes. I appreciate the variable wide format for forums and message boards but, to me, it's an utter nightmare for blogging.

I love the Bomb Shelter idea. I would spend most of my time there.

" @Jeffsekai said:

" @crunchUK: And look at the OP jesus christ, you made a bullshit post about a great game the fuck did you think would happen. "

I made a coherent post with some actual thought and points to back up those thoughts. I guess giantbomb is just going down a road to stupidity. Or rather, it got there and is going down a road to "retarded". Seriously, i look at the replies and i realize why i don't come on here as much anymore, and it's a shame. "

" @Rallier said:

What Sweep is proposing would be great for the "crème de la crème" blogs and other community activities so to speak but the "mediocre" ones would still be ignored. "

There are already systems in place that allow you to view ALL the content available, they are just well hidden behind menus and hard to sort through. Primarily I think these aspects of the site should be more accessible to users - promoting the best stuff is secondary, though still very important. Straight up there should just be a list of all the most recent blogs ranging back to the last 100 blogs, not just the last 8 or 9. The Activity Feed could potentially already do this, if there was a way to filter out the unwanted categories like Twitter spam - as I mentioned in my original post. After the content has been made accessible then the responsibility of distinguishing which is "mediocre" lies with the user. We don't want to be completely spoonfed... "

You know what will solve a majority of those problems ? A better search feature. You should be able to search anything on the site from the search button on top right. Right now, you need to go through hoops to search for blogs, guides, lists or forum posts. Everything is buried under loads of classifications like games, platforms, genres etc etc. This is probably a headache from a design standpoint but this feature is becoming more necessary as the community reaches 100,000 users.

What Sweep is proposing would be great for the "crème de la crème" blogs and other community activities so to speak but the "mediocre" ones would still be ignored. "

" @crunchUK:  OK, let me get this right, are you saying that because of a bunch of forum dudes giving you shit in a thread about a game that in your tittle you called such a game TERRIBLE, not because of how it plays but because of the way people play it, and because of that you are saying that either GB does not have a good community or GB should not have a Community section?  If I am wrong then please correct me, but If I am slightly right, then WTF dude?  There are these types of people everywhere, that doesn't mean that there isn't other things that are great about this community,   "

man im pretty surprised i was expecing you to bitch about how you dont like 
the site but it was pretty well done

" I agree with all of your points Sweep. There needs to be more ways for users to get their content out to others. Sure you can post your blog to the forums, but that often leads to it just disappearing into thread oblivion, while a less thoughtful posts get bumped constantly.   "

Sweep deserves some sort of medal. For as much time as I spend on these stupid forums listening to people bitch about petty things (or praise Mass Effect 2 to high heaven.) I wouldn't mind a more focused outlook. My review blogs could always use a few more posts...

" @crunchUK: And look at the OP jesus christ, you made a bullshit post about a great game the fuck did you think would happen. "

I agree with all of your points Sweep. There needs to be more ways for users to get their content out to others. Sure you can post your blog to the forums, but that often leads to it just disappearing into thread oblivion, while a less thoughtful posts get bumped constantly. 
 
If there is one thing that I would like Giant Bomb to adopt, it is more focus on user reviews. I enjoy writing reviews for games, but whenever the thought enters my mind I usually dismiss the idea. You spend time writing a well thought out review and usually only a few users will ever read it.

" @Binman88 said:

" There are so many trolls, argumentative prats and unfunny retards on the forums who really discourage me from caring about what the community has to say. The primary focus of this website needs to remain on the staff; the community is definitely not it's strong point. "

 

"  @crunchUK said: 

" Interesting observation though, there are a good deal more shitty troll replies than i'd get at system wars. That's saying something...    "

" Game is great.    Go play HALO. "

" Sorry it's not Halo. "

" This thread made me laugh. Thanks for that. "

" It's not even out yet, you idiot. "

" "there's like camping and like camping and like that's not cool *whine whine whine* camping....................camping"did I get your point summed up? "

" Um so u say mw2 is balanced? Okay. "

Sweep has spoken! Make it so!

" "I'm Commander Shepard and this is my favourite blog on The Citadel" "

I like it. I like it a lot.
 
Make it happen "the men upstairs".

This seems like a pretty good idea. Great job Sweep.

This has been needed for quite sometime. Not to mention the decline of users being active on GiantBomb, I think, is a result of the lack of community features. Wonderful work, let's hope this happens some time soon!  
 

@Lies  said: 

" I'd really rather see the plethora of broken ass features around the site fixed (LIKE THIS RAGE INDUCING GUIDE SYSTEM). I've long since lost interest in being a member of the giantbomb community- which is sad, cause I really liked it when the site had just launched. Obviously these things evolve, but I don't feel it's going in a direction I really care to participate in. Maybe your proposal would help, who knows, but in a lot of ways giantbomb now seems like a community oriented site with a community that just doesn't care. "

"  @StarFoxA said: 

" That community page looks great but... where is the space for great wiki pages? "

I really like the enthusiasm. I'm thankful for all GB offers, but it's due for an update. I really think blogs should be moved back to the main display on our profiles, as well. "

Christ, Sweep, sometimes you are just so diamondcore rad and productive that it makes me feel like I'm a dying fish flopping about on a sidewalk. Love the BombShelter idea (and the corresponding mock up), and your insight is pretty much bang on the money for me.

ehhh I like the site how it is

Sweep for president!
 
Hope these ideas get implemented.

Yeah, I think a Community Spotlight tab at the top would be pretty cool.

That...that's....oh my god. 
 
Sweep, you're a genius.

"I'm Commander Shepard and this is my favourite blog on The Citadel"

" @mutha3 said:

All these factors and more result in a community that considers spamming 'DUDER YIP' in the comments section to be the ultimate form of comedy. "

That's actually my biggest gripe. Not only the regurgitated Giant Bomb in-jokes, but people imitating the staff's humour with "DUDE, YES!" and "THIS IS A MAD PC GAME, SON" (or following any phrase with son really). "

" @mutha3 said:

All these factors and more result in a community that considers spamming 'DUDER YIP' in the comments section to be the ultimate form of comedy. "

That's actually my biggest gripe. Not only the regurgitated Giant Bomb in-jokes, but people imitating the staff's humour with "DUDE, YES!" and "THIS IS A MAD PC GAME, SON" (or following any phrase with son really). "

I feel like a cupcake.

Dude, you're spot on.  I like the mockup, and like fox said, you were missing that one 'good wiki-page' area. 
 
But methinks Whiskey Crew is a bit busy with some behind the scenes stuff . . . probable GB cartoon, and a movie site, whiskey style.  But those are just my two cents.

Sweep, once again comes through with some good suggestions.

The role of a community manager is as Jeff mentioned to both police and promote the site they work on. In an odd way a CM is like a 'master moderator' who keeps us lesser mods in line and provides the support we require while making sure the community gets the best services they can through the mods and through their content being promoted effectively. It would be good to see a CM join the USS Giant Bomb so things run a bit smoother between users, staff and mods.
 
As for the other stuff you've listed it'll all probably come in good time. Thing to remember is Whiskey Media isn't devoted to just Giant Bomb as both Comic Vine and Anime Vice also have their own engineering demands as well. Just be patient and I'm sure the thing you wish to change likely will, just not overnight :)

I'm with you Sweep. I've been here since day 1 and I agree with everything you said. Much of what you said is why I don't blog here and why I stopped writing user reviews (there doesn't feel like there is a point to it). Also, I love that mock up. The Bomb Shelter is a dead sexy idea. I love it. Maybe Dave and Andy should hire you.

" That community page looks great but... where is the space for great wiki pages? "

Unless I'm delusional, I remember when I could click on users at the top of the page and then click on activity feed to find blogs and stuff by using the activity filters. It just says all now.

Bombshelter=excellent idea.

The site needs more user blog promotion, just as the guy said, look at Destructoid, it doesn't have it own wiki/database and awesome video features but the user blogs are fun to read and are well promoted, they usually appear in the front page if they are good enough. Here when I find a good blogger is only by luck, if someone had some cool reply to a thread I look on his profile to see if he has a blog, that is sad

All these factors and more result in a community that considers spamming 'DUDER YIP' in the comments section to be the ultimate form of comedy. "

" There are so many trolls, argumentative prats and unfunny retards on the forums who really discourage me from caring about what the community has to say. The primary focus of this website needs to remain on the staff; the community is definitely not it's strong point. "

Great post and I agree with you on every point.
 
I would also add another point -- Accountability. Why is it we're notified when someone agrees with our review or list, but not when they disagree? Are people disagreeing just to be douches or because they have legitimate concerns? Unfortunately, very few people click "this did not help" or "I don't agree" and then leave a comment. They just click those then move on, leaving the review author / list creator wondering what the hell they could fix or improve on. 
 
Really, lists shouldn't even have a disapprove option -- they're personal lists for gods' sakes, what is there to disapprove?! You don't like someone's all-time favorite characters list? Good for you, but that doesn't change the fact that the list is of THEIR favorite characters. 
 
Oh and also in the realm of accountability -- let us have an option that tells us when someone stops following us so we can at least know who it is, if not also return the favor in kind.
 
Anyways great ideas. I really do hope they actually implement some, if not all, of your suggestions.

Hey, where the hell am I on that community blog thing? I'll just assume "near the bottom", which is where I'll aim :P.

AWesome mock-up and great ideas, Sweep. There was really a sense of community coming together in the early days of GB, but since then I've stopped really participating in community stuff and only actually follow/talk to a select few members on Giant Bomb. But it doesn't need to be that way if user created stuff was at the forefront more.

I agree with all of your points. Giantbomb, make it happen!! :D