One GameFAQs reader, Chris Buzan, decided to do an informal test of the GameFAQs review filtering system to find out if either explanation was true. He submitted a review of the PSP that, while negative, was "careful to keep the information accurate" according to Buzan. The review was posted, taken down, tweaked by Buzan, reposted, and taken down within the span of the week. I talked with Buzan about how his experiment affected his view of GameFAQs' reader reviews.
Update (4/16/05): An editor from GameFAQs has publicly responded to these issues.
Video Game Ombudsman: First off, how long have you been visiting GameFAQs
Chris Buzan: Since August 2001.
VGO: How regularly, would you say?
CB: This sounds horrible, but pretty much every day.
VGO: Have you written any other reviews for GameFAQs?
CB: Years ago, under a different account. For Donkey Kong, or something. A few others as well.
VGO: What was your first reaction when you noticed some reviews of the PSP had been taken down earlier this month?
CB: It tore me apart. I briefly considered suicide. Seriously, I guess I was surprised. GameFAQs usually supports a healthy balance of both positive and negative reviews.
VGO: Did you feel negative reviews of the PSP were being singled out for removal while similar reviews of the DS were being left alone?
CB: I hadn't seen them, but I feel that they were being singled out. There%
This is interesting. I've been visiting GameFaqs since 2000, and joined the boards in 2003. Weird things have been happening to GameFaqs ever since that darn CNet invaded. While this most likely wasn't directly related to CNet, I think that Jeff Veasey's "selling out" of GameFaqs and a new full tiem administrator have skewed certain aspects of how the site is ran. There are too many new variables compared to the old site. CNet may have wanted the reviews down so they could push the PSP, maybe for advertising reasons. Or, the reviews could get mixed between admins and that just causes unnecesarry confusion.
ReplyDeleteEither way...if people are allowed to post reviews on a public site, taking them down is unjust. I don't care who complains or what their complaint is. Unless the review is written specifically by a reviewer, the complaining readers can shove it, quite frankly.
ReplyDeleteThere was no reason to take down his review, bottom line.
My friend, I have had a similar experience on IGN, where I was actually BANNED because I made posts casting a negative light on the PSP. I have a blog at: http://magusgamecritique.blogspot.com/ where you can read more about it - but basically there seems to be a big push to get this in people's hands at the expense of the public's right to fair speech. It's obvious somebody has recognized the impact that some of these forums can have on sales, and has highjacked them - essentially crippling the whole forum experience. Everything that competes is being cut away, or there are "subscription prices" to pay. Gamespot's acquisition of Gamefaqs for example - look what they did to the greatest FREE resource on the web for gamers - they GUTTED IT. The only thing they are interested in is securing the faith of it's advertisers - and if that means we have to put a muzzle on before we hit the keyboard, then they will do thier darndest to make that happen. Bye-bye freedom of information and expression - hello mother Russia (the communist one not the modern one...).
ReplyDeleteBTW, I read an answer to a similaar blog by this guy talking about how "hard he and his 2 person staff is working"... working at WHAT? You don't have a board or faqs at Gamefaqs anymore - they have all been taken over by GameSpot's functions! What your probably working on is getting the rights to the faqs freely contributed from thousands of regular joes - so GameSpot can burn them and force everyone to buy BradyGames Books instead. Just give up - GameSpot is going to dump you so fast it's ridiculous - that's what they do, buy burn and dump. They are coddling you right now, but you were just an obstacle and now youv'e been silenced. You are soooo fired, and you don't even know it. Hope they paid you well.