I inquired about this before, but to no avail. :)

I understand where you're coming from. I completely support having a "Block Comments" check box in the options. Honestly, there really is no reason to have them at all, but I understand that there are a large group of people who enjoy reading the opinions of complete strangers so we are severely outnumbered. Heck, judging by the quality of the posts I'd wager that the comments section is why many people visit Gamespot in the first place. Those same people would feel out of place if they were unable to announce their thoughts to tens/hundreds of thousands of people, just like they can on Kotaku, Destructoid, and Youtube, so instead they'd go there to read the headline and the first few sentences of the article before posting their words of mind-numbing enlightenment.

I disagree that people would be inclined to simply un-check that box, since it would be buried in the options menu, and secondly because the objective of said option would be mostly for those who just want to use Gamespot like a newspaper, without having to look at all the "clutter" that doesn't add anything of value and more often than not just leads to directionless arguments over the insignificant opinions of random people that were once constrained to the off topic sections of forums. And if they do happen to un-check that box, then they are more than likely in the group mentioned in the above paragraph

The issue is the difference between the internet and reality. On the internet, nothing is sacred, and for every one belief you hold dear there are a dozen people whose new-found purpose is to taint that belief and prove you wrong by taking advantage of the lack of rules, and fact that they're a thousand miles away and don't have to worry about getting their teeth knocked out. That doesn't happen in the physical world, or at least it doesn't happen at a fraction as it does on the internet. Those same people are probably pretty normal in reality, but as soon as they get behind a keyboard everything they learned about respect and decency in the physical world are thrown out the virtual window and we're left with the social side of the internet as we have it now. I am convinced it's only going to get worse.

Lastly, although I know that the mods do their best to remove any comments with spoilers in them it is as simple as typing a sentence in a text box and clicking "submit" for some disrespectful person to ruin a game for anybody who may scan the comment section -just because they're there-.

It's for these reasons I believe that a "Block All Comments" option would be beneficial. We're expected to ignore them, and for the most part we do, but that's a bit like Kate Upton walking out in a bikini and asking everybody to look away the second she enters their line of sight. Even though she has the intellect of a beach towel you can't help but take a peek.