@mrstickball

When did you first start posting here?....How was it like in the beginning?

It was a bit better than it is now. If you look around the web, this is probably one of the most civil forum areas you will find, without a doubt in terms of gaming.

I know I am not Mr. Stickball, but this is just to give you a general idea.

The whole issue is that the majority of times, a PS3/Wii owner comes into the Microsoft discussions, and outright bash the system without provocation, and that's the issue.

And I agree - if a PS3 owner starts a discussion about something in the Sony forum, and a MS fanboy comes in and says something offtopic, or flames/trolls, he should be banned immediately. Eventually, such intense action would force X360 owners to stay in the MS forums, and Sony fans in the Sony forums.

Now, as for console-bashing inside of another forum (such as a X360 owner bashing a PS3 in the MS forum), I guess it would be allowed, as it's not the Sony forum. Again, this effort is to improve the quality of the Nintendo, Sony, and MS forums - why should anyone go into their console of choice's forum (such as a Wii owner in the N forums), and have to defend the Wii against all oncomers, when he's just wanting to post about how great Wii Sports is?

For myself, I don't know if *I* can police the Sony and N forums, but I am sure that other mods know those forums better than I do, and know the "usual suspects" of PS3/Wii/X360 people that flame, and cause issues with their forums. Not only this way, it removes bias from the moderators: so a pro-MS, pro-Sony, or pro-N moderator can ban-at-will on their home forums without getting attacked by various posters for bias. The gaming/sales forums are (obviously) going to be more difficult to judge, but I think that if we start with the N/S/MS forums, it'll go a long way on improving retention rates for visitors to VGC.

I agree it would be impossible for you to police all by yourself, but I believe the other mod team members would agree with your idea to clean the place up and make it much friendlier.

I wish you the best of luck on your endeavor and want to see you post more often... and I mean ASAP!!!

It sounds like a good idea. Hope it works sir. Mrstickball is a senior moderator on this site and everyone must do what he says just like the other 17 mods on this site.

@Euphoria

I see, and I´m not surprised...many things are better when they´re just getting started.

A lot better than it is now.

The big issue was that when it all started (2006), every post was dedicated to the nature of VGC - sales numbers. Everyone only cared about the hard facts of data. Even though there was bias among members, I don't remember a lot of trolling by the earliest posters. Then along came users like Gballzak, Kwaad, and others, and things began to change. The forums evolved from just being about how great sales data like NPD, Famitsu, and Media Create was, and eventually splintered into your manufacturer factions. Then VGC got publicity, and the hardcore fans that really could care less about data came in, and started crapping the forums up.

To me, the issue is (and I'll be honest) is that the forums aren't about data any more. Check the sales threads - they're not the central focus like they used to be. You now have thousands of posters talking about how great certain games are, and the focus isn't on predictions, sales data, forecasts, or sales discussions. I mean, the discussions are still there, and are vibrant, they aren't like they used to be.

Check some of the initial posts - November 2006 NPD, December 2006 NPD, and the like.

True, I'm also a little tired of ps3 owners thinking they know what games are good on the 360, even though they don't own one. But here's another question: If I own a psp, can I complain about the games selection this year. even though I don't own a ps3? (some ps3 owners consider me a troll, if I step foot in the sony forum, it's why I only post in the psp thread)

@mrstickball

I joined VGC recently, but still I see people talking about this GBallZack from time to time....was he/she a "legend' around here or something?

I feel that the amount of trolling has been on the increase across the whole site. It is rare to see a thread that has no trolling. I think it has become even rarer to see warnings/bans unless personal insults have been used.