Topic: Ideas for the site.

@Octane It seems the spammers were using different titles - albeit very slightly. Moving a decimal point or spacing so one says 'Bitcoin', the next 'Bit.coin', the next 'Bitco.in' - not just words but these had numbers too so you had 1234, 12.34, 12 34, - maybe because they are aware that some sites pick up duplicate titles.

@Tasuki I don't think having a noobie tier membership would put people off from joining - not if they were genuine. If anything its more reassuring that the site and its community are more genuine and less likely to be intimidated, spammed or trolled. I think the community here is one of, if not the best - especially considering the toxic nature that a lot of gaming forums have. This site is one of the most open and friendly sites - majority are very accepting of the fact that others may have alternative opinions and not just game on Playstations either. It seems a more 'mature' site with 'gamers' (not fanboys) who generally have a Playstation as the 'common' link. I know there are still some though that will take every opportunity to have a dig at the competition but those are not the majority and the majority will keep on topic and/or remain civil.

The reason I said about having a 'noobie' trial were they can post but maybe not start new threads was more to make them feel less restricted or monitored when they join. If their posts are 'blocked' until they are vetted, that may make them feel like they are under observation. Its more subtle observation with the first method and less restricted.

It wasn't 'just' about the spam either - although that has been particularly bad the last day or two - particularly the bitcoin. It was also about trolls too - those that join up just to make comments in the news threads to antagonise. Whilst these are dealt with relatively quickly, its reactive rather than pro-active. It can draw in regulars and upset them into making comments etc that they wouldn't normally do but with 'pro-active' things in place, particularly if comments have to be vetted before going live from newcomers, that would stop this from happening - even dealt with before anyone gets upset. As a Mod for example, you could have a word with the person, direct them to the rules etc without anyone being upset or having to modify posts after its gone live. Any genuine potential member is unlikely to be put off and may even feel better about the community they are joining - knowing that abusive trolls or spammers won't be allowed so they know they are joining a great and respectful community.

Feedback: No screenshot thread?? That's so weird. Bad move IMO @tasuki

If people have "slow phones" they ain't gunna go in the topic. It isn't 1998 either.

And I mean, the console this site supports has a dedicated button on it for sharing screenshots.

Isn't the point of a screenshot thread that people with slow internet can avoid it? I mean, it's right there in the title.

If the link is allowed in your signature, why not allow a topic with links to these pictures?

@kyleforrester87 @Octane Agreed. I've reopened the thread with a warning for slow connection in the thread title.

Good stuff!!!

Now if only it was more streamlined to get screenshots uploaded 😂

@kyleforrester87 Haha, that's for @antdickens to solve!

Yeah it sucks that you need Twitter or Facebook account to upload screen shots, as I have neither.

@JohnnyShoulder Why not use something like imgbb or a similar free image hosting site?

Cheers @Octane I will take a look at it.

@get2sammyb @shogunRok Right it's been mentioned in the comments on one article and I think it needs to be said here. There's far too many guide articles on the site now.
Since the start of 2018 we've had by my count 100 guide articles in under four months, for comparison you have to go back to January 2017 for the number of guides to reach triple figures (32 alone were dedicated to Monster Hunter World) plus did we really need the main page cluttered up by the old Bloodborne articles just because it was on plus a few weeks ago? A simple page with links to all of them would have solved that.
It is far too excessive now and I'd be amazed if I'm not the only one with this issue because many come here for the latest PlayStation news and/or features that invite good discussions but instead are met with tons of guides for games that they might not want. It's simply quantity over quality right now.

To be fair quite a bit of effort probably goes into them and I may be wrong but I guess they help generate hits over a longer period as people buy the game and google solutions?

I don't really mind them myself but I agree 10 articles on a game I'm not interested in makes me roll my eyes a bit. But if it benefits the site long term I don't mind really.

I'm still waiting for my Dark Mode

@kyleforrester87 Tbh I don't see much use in them anyway, most of these guides could be found on YouTube quite easily and I find more useful cos your actually seeing the game instead of reading what you have to do. While I don't doubt that a lot of work has gone into them, I feel it needs heavily reeling in and/or made more efficient by putting all of them in one article instead . It may well generate hits (only the staff know of course) but going by the amount of comments on them very few exceed 10 comments. It just all feels like filler in place of a couple of stories they could have posted such as a recent rumour that new details of the Medievil Remaster could be announced at PAX East along with the funny story that Randy Pitchford embarrassed himself by pleading for cross platform play to CEO Kaz Hirai's twitter, not knowing it's a parody account. Both stories could have generated just as many hits and discussions then nearly ten Far Cry 5 guides.

@adf86 I agree - but like @kyleforrester87 says, they may well be worthwhile for generating hits - although I would still go elsewhere for any guides myself - inc Youtube as well as sites that are dedicated to walkthroughs, guides, hints and tips etc. I think it would make more sense to have just one main article with a link to these all stored in a 'new' section - 'Guides'. I don't know who would search for guides though, more likely to search for solutions to get certain trophy/achievements or puzzles. If PushSquare are intending to do more, I think the site ought to have a guides section and keep all those in there with maybe just one 'news' article with links to all those rather than clutter up the thread with multiple 'guides' for the same game...

@BAMozzy I certainly don't dispute that they need to do what they need too to keep the site going (at least it isn't clickbait) I just feel things have gotten too excessive now and I certainly wouldn't call myself a fan of the site if I wasn't able to reasonably point things I didn't like.

@BAMozzy Yes, I wish the separate game pages had a Guide section. If you look at the Bloodborne page now all news and guides are cluttered over there as well. A tab for guides would be a huge improvement already. And not having the guides appear as separate news items on the front page as well, but I fear that's something that will be difficult to arrange technically. :/

By the way, the guides themselves are good. I actually used the one for Bloodborne, but the unfortunate thing about it is that I go to Google to search for the specific guide, because navigation here is kinda hard.

Unrelated: is it possible to remove all the Nintendo Life articles from the Search on the Push Square site (or grant the option to filter them out)?

Put on some sunglasses then, problem solved. 😎

Definitely hear your concerns with regards to the guides. One thing we've been doing is back dating some of them so they're pushed down the timeline away from the latest news. I also agree that on the game pages in particular it might be nice to have a 'Guides' tab to separate them out.

The reason for the guides is simple: they're growing the site. I don't want to get too heavy into the statistics, but doing them is enabling us to get Push Square where we want it to be. Updating/republishing content also maintains our rank on Google for certain search terms, but obviously we're trying add value when we do this. Take for example Rob's RPG guide, which he re-ordered and added 10 games to before republishing today.

I do understand the criticism because I don't want the homepage to be cluttered either, but I also think the guides do add value because people clearly are using them. Thus, as with anything, it's about us finding a way of delivering this stuff without it being too obtrusive, which is maybe something we need to work harder on.

The guides don't really bother me, if I don't need or have a use for them I just don't read them. Simple enough.