ID:132364
 
I think this is a stupid feature and should be removed. Players of the game have the right to explain how they feel about a certain game because that is the whole point of the comments section. Similar to the feedback section of the hub, if owners just delete the bad comments and leave the good ones, new players to the game will not know whether games have abusive staff members, or whether people prefer to play a different server because the other ones are run by bad host or admins, or even just stating the the owner doesn't update the game frequently or that aspects of the game are ripped from other games. I think all players should have the right to review and critic games and the owners should not have the right to pick and choose what is shown, other wise there is no reason for comments to be added in the first place.

Now granted, there are some people out there who will post offensive rude messages, but just like with the feedback tab on the hub, if a post is not helpful or is bad in general the owner of the hub could always report it to a BYOND admin and have it removed. or have a report feature that report certain post with a reason why it should be removed.

As a BYOND member, I would rather see honest comments about what a game is like from the actual players then the abridged good version of what a game is like by the owner of the game who only wants to show the good side of the game. Or wants to suppress truthful but negative aspects of the game.
Game creators should be able to control face of their game, and that includes a tightly controlled comments section on the hub. Being able to delete comments is a good thing.

If you don't like a particular game then you're free to make a blog post, a forum post, or even an entire website about it. That said, you don't have the right to deface a game's actual homepage and have it stick, even if your negative feedback is valid.
I don't want over 9000 comments on my hub about some idiot complaining that they are banned for something that they did wrong.
In response to Super Saiyan X
At that point then you could use the report button and have it deleted. Being banned should be handled on the games forum and not on the comments section. But having actual information about the game that could be useful to new players and/or constructive to the owner/players of the game is something that shouldn't be deleted.
In response to Moussiffer
and you think the BYOND staff has enough people and time to patrol over 9000 hubs and the idiots posting on them?
In response to Silk Games
I don't think it really constitutes defacing if it is constructive and not inappropriate. I mean that is the whole point of having the comments tab, to leave you opinion of the game so others may read it and get a better understanding of what they are walking into. If used correctly there should be a problem with leaving valid information and having it not be deletable. Most major games have some kind of feedback section or forum where players can talk about there experience with the game and how they feel about it.

As for making a blog post or forum post or website, those would pretty much go to waste because unless someone was looking specifically for them, no one would be able to find it, and therefore it would be no help to those who were about the play the game. Maybe if this was a larger site with really well known games. But for BYOND games I think the comments section would make sense to put your views on the game. As a way to help not only new players but also the owner of the game by giving your opinion on the good and bad and what could or should be added or changed.
In response to Super Saiyan X
I am sure in most cases it would be a simple delete or keep situation. Not to mention the comments section of the hub isn't commonly used on all games. Maybe a 4th of games actually get comments and maybe a 4th of those games actually have problems with people posting inappropriate content. IF it becomes a real issue, the BYOND staff could just remove certain people from being able to make post on certain hubs and that would solve a lot of issues. This feature is already in place in the feedback section of games, so the only difference is that now anyone can leave comments not just members (which I think can be changed in the hubs options) But even then since BYOND is focuses on the whole (BYOND Members = better then free members)they could just make comments a members only feature. In which case that drastically cuts down the number of people who can leave comments to a reasonable number for moderators to work with.
In response to Moussiffer
I agree with both parties on this. I honestly think that people should have the right to express themselves about the game on the comments section. Owners would most likely delete negative comments so the game only has good feedback. However, there are certain people who abuse comments and use it for ban appeals and etc.

The original idea of having a report button would be decent if mods weren't so busy.
Currently the comments section for a hub entry is largely intended as a discussion area about the entry where players can interact with the owner. In this way they function more like comments on a blog post, and this is how they were intended. Hence it makes perfect sense for the owner to have admin control over their entry's comments.

Your suggestion is based around the idea that comments should be more of a place for users to weigh in on what they thought about the entry for the sake of others who don't play. While there's value in having such a thing, that's not currently how comments are used. Nor would such a system truly be useful in an environment where just anyone can make a comment; it would have to be more limited and more heavily moderated.

If we did have some kind of truly review-like system, I agree letting owners moderate that themselves would be a bad thing. However we would also need a much better way of keeping the content relevant and preventing spam.

Lummox JR
In response to Lummox JR
Well thanks for your response. =]

As mentioned in another post on here, I think if comments were limited to BYOND members, or even a select group of people on BYOND who's specific job would be to review games, that might be interesting. OR both even.

If it were limited to just BYOND members similar to the feed back tab that would really lower the amount of comments that are actually produced and it would also give BYOND members another perk of membership.

That being said, in order to keep the comments tag in use as its original purpose, a better idea might just be to make the feed back tab visible to all members but only accessible to BYOND members as it is now. This way reviewers and BYOND members can leave their opinions on the games, what they like and dislike, what should be changed and/or fixed in there opinion. And then non-member players can see this feed back and make determinations on games based on what they have seen. Which might be especially good because A review from a BYOND staff member who reviewed the game fir its listed status might help other new players to choose whether they want to play the game or not.

This way, the only change you would be making is making feedback public to all. Since I haven't see any cases of feed back spam at all, it might be the perfect way to introduce this to the public and a great way to allow members to review games and really have there opinion seen. And of course with the report feature, if something was posted that was off topic or inappropriate then it could easily be removed.

Meh, Just something to think about. This way Owners can keep comments and members who want to review a game constructively will have the option without having to worry about it being deleted if it is valid information..
Players dont have a right to anything, it's my game.

"Players of the game have the right to explain how they feel about a certain game because that is the whole point of the comments section."

The comment section is for whatever I say it is for, because it's my hub.

The typical response from people who make these posts is that I am arrogant. I'm not, you just have a false sense of entitlement. I don't see you giving ME anything, so why do you think I owe you anything (Such as "rights" in my game)? Neither of us owe each other.

When I come over to your house I don't expect "rights" from you either. If I give you rights in my game I expect to live rent free in your house.
In response to Dragonn
Its not really your hub... It more like BYOND's ad space that they are letting you rent if you follow their terms and conditions. Just because you add your games information to it doesn't mean it is yours. If you made your own website or forum to showcase your game that would be different. But this really belongs to BYOND and they (BYOND) could do whatever they want with it, including take away your right to delete comments from players.
In response to Moussiffer
Moussiffer wrote:
Its not really your hub... It more like BYOND's ad space that they are letting you rent if you follow their terms and conditions. Just because you add your games information to it doesn't mean it is yours. If you made your own website or forum to showcase your game that would be different. But this really belongs to BYOND and they (BYOND) could do whatever they want with it, including take away your right to delete comments from players.

Yea. Still my game tho. BYOND may be the true owner of the hub, but...I'm still gonna do whatever I want. Just my opinions, if BYOND wants your suggestion its no problem for me.
In response to Dragonn
Well, I understand it is your game. And in which case nothing in your game would be effected. Just the hub that is owned by BYOND.
In response to Moussiffer
Moussiffer, do you realize how many trolls there are on byond?
In response to Thelavaking
I understand that there are many a troll on BYOND. However that is again where the report button would come in. If people are posting inappropriate content on the comments then they can be removed. If they continue to do it then can have their ability to comment on the game revoked. It was only a suggestion.
In response to Moussiffer
Moussiffer wrote:
I understand that there are many a troll on BYOND. However that is again where the report button would come in. If people are posting inappropriate content on the comments then they can be removed. If they continue to do it then can have their ability to comment on the game revoked. It was only a suggestion.

I think that would end up just putting more work in the admins' ands. Overall it isn't worth the additional effort. Besides, it would need somewhere else to go. The feedback tab isn't intended for reviews; it's for helping admins and the authors, and players who have helpful info, communicate about how to categorize the entry.

Lummox JR
In response to Lummox JR
Lummox JR wrote:

The feedback tab isn't intended for reviews; it's for helping admins and the authors, and players who have helpful info, communicate about how to categorize the entry.

Lummox JR

I think everyone is talking about the comments tab that every game has on their hub (i.e. this), not the feedback section for category assignment.
In response to Xioden
Moussiffer was referring to either one. He first mentioned the comments tab specifically but I pointed out that it was never designed for candid reviews and functions more like post comments. Then he mentioned feedback, though again that isn't what it's designed for. Basically any time we've tried to put together a candid review system it's attracted a lot of crap without providing a clear benefit.

Lummox JR