First off, let me start by saying that this is my first blog post, and will probably be my last. I'm too busy to sit down and write about things that bother me, and I would prefer to deal with those things face-to-face instead of just ranting about them. Unfortunately, I am unable to face this "issue" directly, as Gamespot has chosen to limit the ways their members have recourse against wrongful "TOS violations" and various moderations.

I have been moderated twice for speaking my opinion. I am not a flaming troll, and typically despise people who visit a board to wreak havok or cause trouble. However, I am a firm believer in the freedom to speak ones mind. I am also a firm believer that any organization that relies on web hits to generate revenue should be willing to allow its members to voice their opinions without the fear of a virtual gavel wielding madman leeching away their Gamespot levels and deleting their posts on a whim. Especially when the people who get "moderated" are simply defending other users, the business sense of gaming companies who actually care about making superior products, or in my case, both. I have defended George Broussard (one of the masterminds behind Duke Nukem) and condemned Nintendo for refusing to push the technological envelope by offering anything more than "kiddie games". For these constructive criticisms, I have been awarded with punishment from Gamespot. The first time this occured was back in '07. I had my comment deleted and received a warning from some Gamespot "employee" who found offence with my verbal beratement of the Gamecube. My crime: posting the word "Lamecube"! If there are any persons under the age of 18 reading this, please accept my humblest of apologies for exposing you to such a horrid word, which is undoubtedly the vile underbelly of the English language.

My second brush with death (a.k.a. moderation) happened yesterday (6/11) when some random moron decided he wanted to insult George Broussard because he is a 40 year-old man who has a ponytail and eats too many Doritos. When I retorted by saying the flaming troll was even more of a loser because he was insulting a legend in the gaming community by posting on a message board on the internet, I got "moderated" again. Today, I checked the original comment to see if it was still there, and it is. It has -11 votes, so it doesn't even show anymore unless someone specifically toggles it to appear, but it is there. Of course, my message has been deleted. So, I am to assume that insulting a high-profile game producer is okay in Gamespot's 'Book o' Stupidity', but me using the same verbage to insult a lowlife troll is against Gamespot's TOS. Even when so many people obviously don't agree with his point of view, it is still somehow more valuable to Gamespot than mine. The worst part is that the comment had actually been flagged as offensive by someone, and yet it was deemed as not inappropriate.

Gamespot is trying to punish people for voicing any opinions that could possibly insult those who are visiting Gamespot and reading their boards. Fair is fair, and people should either be punished for defaming anyone or no one should be punished at all since Gamespot apparently doesn't see this as offensive. Speaking of which, the punishment administered by Gamespot's gestapo is also laughable, being a "demotion" of sorts, allowing them to take away levels from Gamespot's members. What Gamespot fails to see is that this will actually cause members to stop worrying as much about trying to gain levels in the first place, and that will eventually cause fewer people to care if they are on Gamespot.com for big events and holiday events. Simple logic dictates that this is not a good system for those who want to express valid concerns or voice their opinions against anything they feel is wrong. So much for freedom of speech.