One of the many things that your community managers do on a regular basis is gather information from around the corners of GameSpot in hopes of bettering the site based on your feedback.
After doing these for a while I thought it might be nice to start up a "Community Coalition". What's a coalition? A coalition is a pact or treaty among individuals or groups, during which they cooperate in joint action, each in their own self-interest, joining forces together for a common cause.
So with that said, here are some of the insights that "stood out" over the last few days.
Editorial/Video Feedback and Requests:
1.) A feature that gives a rundown of current and upcoming features on the site.
"Do an article, whereby, you announce a future podcast will give gamers etc the chance to mull over and come up with some interesting questions and opinions."
2.) Feature idea from user X: Editors blogging more, not in a professional format but rather one where we can get to know the staff better.
Example:
"I think if the site had editor blogs and articles from Friday to Sundays, the site would have more activity."
3.) Requests for more Investigative Journalism:
Examples:
http://www.gamespot.com/forums/topic/29347060/no-neverwinter-news-why-do-you-guys-always-miss-out?msg_id=339445989#339445989
http://www.gamespot.com/news/how-bungie-turned-destiny-leak-into-a-positive-6402709
"I'd like to see news that is really fresh. Excuse me for being a bit blunt, but as of now, most of the news that Gamespot posts seems to be just a rehash of news that other gaming news services have already posted, not to mention the fact that Gamespot often posts it several days after the fact. Now I understand that this is standard fare among gaming news services, but when I can read an article about something related to gaming on MSN news before I ever see it on Gamespot, I think there is a problem. What I would really like to see Gamespot doing is more investigative journalism. This takes a lot more work and effort, but the end result can be mind blowing. For example, about a month ago or so, Gamespy did a brilliant expose of The War Z, where they had a probing interview with the game's creator. Here's the link just in case you'd like to see it: http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/the-war-z/1226980p1.html"
4.) Feature idea from user X: Have a Best of or Important games of this generation of consoles:
Since we're getting close to the end of this gen, I thought it would be an awesome if Gamespot would reflect upon the best and most "important" games of this gen.
- Which game saved the PS3? Uncharted 2.
- Which game gave the Xbox 360 a great start? Gears of War.
- Which game was the defining experience on the Nintendo Wii? Super Mario Galaxy.
5.) The current community reflection on eSports, and our coverage in relation to eSports events, games, and teams.
"I would like to see more fighting game competition videos. I think all the other stuff is boring."
"I would prefer things like "esports" have a website all on their own for that kind of news. I have been a gamespot member for years, and I come on mostly to read reviews and news about games, consoles, and things to get me excited for the future of gaming. I also love reading articles on old games that I loved as a kid, that people may not appreciate as much now days. I realize that people are into pro gaming and it's becoming bigger, but it seems there have been too many articles on things like that that a lot of people can't relate to because a big majority don't play games competitively, and don't like watching or hearing about people or teams that they have never heard of or cared for. "
"What bothers me is that e-sports news seems to be replacing and/or being put on equal footing with normal news. To me, it would be akin to news about football being put into the world news section. I wouldn't mind if Gamespot created an e-sports channel. I would just like the two to remain in separate sections."
"I realize that people are into pro gaming and it's becoming bigger, but it seems there have been too many articles on things like that that a lot of people can't relate to because a big majority don't play games competitively, and don't like watching or hearing about people or teams that they have never heard of or cared for. I want to see more about games, less about gamers."
"Ok i am a bit disappoint with Gamespot ately, half of the news is about the stupid so-called "pro" gaming leauges which a lot of us here dont even care about. You guys need to get the ball rolling and stop lagging behind others. Gamespot i think is falling behind a bit and i may consider using another website as my game news info....."
Site Enhancements
Users wanting a better mobile app, or an update about our current status on an app update:
"Any news on a Gamespot app for iOS and Android getting forum support, or at the very least a mobile site or Tapatalk support? I think it would really help since mobile traffic is constantly growing and it would make it easier to access the forums."
http://www.gamespot.com/forums/topic/29342915
Request to allow a skip ahead feature for the video player.
It would be awesome to also improve the video player... Been really annoyed by the fact that you cannot jump to the middle of a video without downloading the beginning of it first. This is particularly annoying when you watch a video for a while and then change the quality setting.
http://www.gamespot.com/features/offsite-image-hosting-rules-are-changing-what-you-need-to-know-6402780/
"Gamespot can you fix the HD 720p videos. I hate how I just can't skip halfway and have to wait a minute or two to get there."
http://www.gamespot.com/shows/random-encounter/?event=fear20130130
Requested inquiry in regards to post history page. As well as insights and a possible explanation as to why it is the way it is.
http://www.gamespot.com/forums/topic/29345454/post-history-page-suggestion-or-an-explanation-as-to-why-it-is-the-way-it-is...?msg_id=339446160#339446160
Automatic union un-establish feature for unions that have been inactive for too long:
"I DO agree there should be an automatic filter which kills a union if it goes inactive for a long period of time (X months or something), but they should never be removed altogether."
http://www.gamespot.com/forums/topic/29342489/kill-the-unions-theyre-a-waste-of-web-space
GameSpot TV Layout too cluttered, consider adding a pin feature to help better the user experience:
"I find the new gamespot tv to be really cluttered. i don't like how its not more organized. when i click on shows, i have to endlessly scroll down until i find the show that i want to watch and that is a BIG problem. This reminds me a lot of tumblr, and its cool if i can use a pin feature to see which video i let off, but if i want to watch something like the whole series of QFT, then i would have to keep scrolling."
If you have any additional insights or comments about site enhancements, or feedback for our editors please feel free to share in the comments below, or send me a PM.
All great feedback. I especially would love to see more community interaction from the editors...even if it's just a random post. They seem to have no problem posting stuff on Twitter. Why not contribute to the very company web site they work for? Also, the auto-kill on defunct unions would be super fantastic. Having to go through and see so many unions still open and allowed to fester makes me glad people can't browse unions anymore.
I want open APIs for both GameSpot and Metacritic. Then I could create a browser plugin that allowed you to go through GameStop or Amazon and see the Metacritic scores and have links to GameSpot's review.
Let the data flow free!
>One of the many things that your community managers do on a regular basis is gather information from around the corners of GameSpot in hopes of bettering the site based on your feedback.
Yeah, good job with that, because clearly this website has gotten less buggy over the years.
/endsarcasm
Also, Metal Gear Solid 4 saved the PS3, who gave you your information? >_>
@ShadowofSonic Yeah, cause it's not like Fuse is working again, or users are being featured on the front page of GameSpot.
I WANT to be able add soundtracks to my blogs! a small popup-player at the top corner will do, why not? Do you like listening to music while reading?
@Synthia I never used the site, but i'm gonna do some Photoshopping tonight and explain with pictures.
But imagine if i add this awesome track : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEQ4FnvJPGA
or this one : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vCKFeO3nNs
to my Blog here: http://www.gamespot.com/users/matastig/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=m-100-25999273
so we can listen to it while reading as a part of the theme ^^
With how much later Gamespot seems to post many news stories in comparison to other sites I would also like to see a lot less about eSports and MLG teams.
1 Like I feel there are quite a few unjustified complaints or perhaps minority gripes - Gamespot is still almost all of the communities favourite gaming information locale and more importantly it is our preferred social site where we can chat and message our friends without being bombarded with those annoying Facebook game requests. each time I visit the book I will have 8 or 9 requests - maybe 2 or 3 that are not requests to play one of those ****ing games.
Gamespot forever!
I would like a place for all the old shows that sometime you want to watch again. I see under the Shows tab you list most the shows on the site now which is nice but what about the shows that got canceled or are on hiatus. Maybe having an Archive and from there linking to the other shows.
@fend_oblivion I think I'll have information to share on this in the next few days. I'm not 100% sure of that, but I'm gonna try ;)
1 Like These are all great. I personally would like the "NEW!" next to "My Achievements" in the default GameSpot profile to disappear. That feature's been there for well over a year.
I definitely co-sign the feature of killing off inactive unions. Would make it easier for the active ones to be noticed. I also like the idea of blog to get to know editors better. A lot of new faces on GS.
2 Like Well, this is not exactly a site enhancement, it's an old feature that disappeared for seemingly no reason, the emblems rarities!
I know it's just a "colored frame around the emblem", but it gave the emblems way more value, and it was really fun trying to get an epic or a rare emblem. I really hope it comes back.
5 Like I think a bit more PC coverage as I think it's a bit lacking (maybe more hardware reviews etc) ,also stop the consoles versus PC comparisons as they are totally different,otherwise I love GS and always use this site :)
