Weekly Report: User Review Fever!

Announcements

- Removal of 'moderate user' in blogs: We have changed the blog system to only allow GameSpot site moderators and staff to mark moderation histories going forward. As you might have experienced, when users didn't like random people posting in their blogs they had a way to moderate users with a warning, which was a mark in the user's moderation history. Some users abused this privilage with rude comments for the reason of the comment deletion. All users will continue to have access to delete comments in their blogs. You will want to report abuse to moderator if the abuse falls under flaming, advertising, and offensive content.

- Tuesday's Game Night 7/28: PC gamers cannot rent games like the console gamers so we're going to try an experiment with Free Realms tomorrow night from 4-7pm PT.We've heard a lot of good things about the racing mini game being compared to Mario Kart. No subscription requirements to register and play. Read the FAQ for more information.

- Game Nights Schedule: We're almost done with the schedule. Help us finish by posting your suggestions! We're hoping to include your anticipated game releases.

Member Spotlight: Sieg6529

Featured User Videos

Both users have received the 'As Seen On GameSpot' emblem for being featured.

- Modded PS1 Case: craigofadown made his own case for his PlayStation.
- CoD 4: Weird and Fun: _VitoCorleone_ (aka YT: FuggedabouditNL) has mirrored one of their funny videos from youtube.

User Reviews

This week's user reviews were pulled from the users who recently were granted the Top 100 or 500 emblem.

- Dead Space (PC) Cunhao
- Ratchet & Clank Future (PS3) PSFreak1
- Mirror's Edge (PS3) SGTiD1NG0
- Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood (PC) LGTX
- Prototype (PC) topsemag55
- Necrovision (PC) ChristianKiss
- Resident Evil 5 (PS3) stephenage
- Donkey Kong Country (SNES) samusarmada
- Samba de Amigo (Wii) loopy_101
- Shadow of the Colossus (PS2) ebbderelict

Randomness Teh Awesome

Forum Territory
- OT: Is giving a peck on the cheek normal in America? by DragonRebel0908
- OT: GameSpot's next top moderator by iginlawasup
- GGD: Do you fear games that require you to go in deep water? By shamozer
- GGD: Where is the borderlands hype by ASK_Story
- System Wars: PS3 Wand vs X360 Natal by Ribnarak

Blog Bunker
- Safad0 shares his thoughts about how to get your girlfriends to play games.
- starduke describes what can make a game great.
- THE_DRUGGIE shares the 5 Funniest Games of All Time

Unionites
- Ultim@te G@miNg Uni0n's leader, uas-2001, has announced a new caption competition; the main requirement is to have some humor!
- The Off Topic Legionaries's leader, optiow, would like to share a new competition for the union. Name that Movie Screenshot competition ends on August 10th

Misc. Drawer
- HotSpot homework emblem goes to CanadianAK47
- NuKkU's brother has made a variety of game character drawings worth checking out.
- Monkey Island: Special Video w/Ending by dark_being ***SPOILER WARNING***

Tip of the Week

Member spotlight users that get featured on the community hub also receive a member spotlight emblem. Each week, there are some areas that staff may find a user that should be featured. If there are too many good users to choose from, the remainder may be featured in the random section of the community report. Today, I'll share how staff may end up noticing your profile and blogs.

- Roll of the dice. Sometimes, it's by sheer luck! If you go to the forums directory there is a module called 'Latest Returning Users'. If you do not have the default G avatar, you might have your avatar clicked on. Reason being, an active GameSpot contributor will likely customize their profile and avatar image to their personal preference. Best thing to do is make sure you change out your avatar from default to show the appearance of an active Gamespot member who is likely to post a blog or two worthy of being mentioned.

- Listing your blogs as an 'editorial'. If you want staff to notice your blogs, sometimes the editorial drop down does the trick. Maybe your blog won't receive the SoapBox feature access, but it's definitely something we have to share with other users.

- GameSpot staff member tracks your profile. Sometimes, the users are tracked by GameSpot staff. We find many of you so interesting, that we must be a fan of you! So, next time you see a staff member tracking you, know that you may just be a savvy contributor.

Lastly, when users are considered they also need to have a good about me section because the community spotlight module on the community page displays this information. Here is an example of this week's member spotlight.

Without an about me page the user's spotlight feature will display as incomplete.

Your assignments this week; check your about me sections to make sure they are current. If you do not have an about me section, you can add some information about yourself by going to options/about me tab.

A big thanks to Brianfox1 for the question.