You may've seen my topic about the reporting of game comments. Seeing how common it is for members to make short posts and seeing how you've tried to make an attempt to deal with this, I just thought of a little idea which may perhaps end this whole short posting problem. I apologise in advance if this has already been mentioned or if it's already being addressed.
Could you not perhaps code/program that section so that members are forced to write a certain number of words in order for their comment to be accepted? Something like... I dunno... a minimum of 5-6 words. If they type less, then their comment would not go through and something like a red message would appear saying that "YOU MUST TYPE IN A MINIMUM OF 6 WORDS. PLEASE EXPAND YOUR COMMENT" or something along the lines.
This way no longer could members spam with comments such as "good" "crap" "rubbish" "baaaaaaaaaaaad" and will be forced to say a bit more.
I know it's not a foolproof idea and all it might mean is that members will just post something like "I think the game is really good" which doesn't mean much but I still think it's a means of somewhat controlling these short posts.
I'm not suggesting this be done to the forums as well but just the game comments section considering the sheer number of short posts in those games. Most members seem to expand their posts very well in the forums as it is.
Okay none of these comments are mine but I would like to know which ones of these would be considered spam. So that I can have a better understanding of it.
Comment 1: "This is an awesome game, the controls are a bit dodgy to control. 9.5/10"
(My thoughts: Possibly spam, however the user mentions the controls need work and that other wise they enjoyed the game by saying it's awesome and gives the rating they put.)
Comment 2 "Fun, but graphics are way too simple."
(My thoughts: This is like comment one only ranging closer to spam than an actual comment.)
Comment 3: "not really a good game."
(My thoughts: This one is spam or so close to spam it's just a millimeter away. The comment does state the game isn't good, but that doesn't help. If you don't like a game express that by giving it a low rating.)
Comment 4: "I love this series."
(My thoughts: This comment is spam. The only value it has is that it let's the author of the game know that people like a particular series of game they put out. I could be wrong about it being spam, what do you think?)
Comment 5: "i like the tank games "
(My thoughts: This comment is spam. Sure they say they like tank games, which is what that type of game is about that the comment was made on, but there is nothing constructive said about the game itself. If you like the game give it a high rating and comment on what things could have made it even better.)
These are only my thoughts, but an official answer from an Admin or Mod on which of those above comments are spam and which weren't (unless they were all spam), would be great.
I say all of them are--if not, #1 is safe. The problem with all of these is that you can just as easily c/p these comments into every game and sound credible (except #5, which is spam either way). Then you have the "why?" proposal. If you can say "why?" to any of the comments, then they didn't put enough effort into the comment. Why is the game awesome? Why/how are the controls dodgy? Why are the graphics way too simple? None of these comments have "stuff" in them. Simply saying "this game is awesome" doesn't tell the developer anything. Sure, it's good praise for their hard work, but it doesn't give good enough feedback to the game.
A simple sentence stating what and why/how is all that is needed.
#1 is iffy and open to interpretation -- we'd like to see more specifics on what was "dodgy" about the controls.
2. Spammy. Some of the games are meant to have lower-quality 8-bit graphics
3. Spammy. You don't say why
4. Semi-Spammy and could be removed based on interpretation. While it does give the game developer some feedback about users that like a series of games, that's what the game rating is for. If you like the series, rate the game high, and the game dev will see that users like it, and hopefully make more.
Well after the clean up and the addition of the notice by the comment boxes, spammers are starting to do this:
"Well, what I really thought about the games was that it was great!"
Of course I hate it the most when people think it's a good idea to copy and paste the game description into the comment box.
On the OP. It actually might work, like a 50 post minimum before commenting on a game, because most dedicated users do have a lot of posts, but then spammers would just spam post before they could rate. And like Cenere said the AG3 release is close and the spam will probably be handled better and differently.
So my argument is it would increase quality. Obviously spammers will still be there but I prefer quality of quantity because most comments are the same thing. Spammers will spam regardless as frank mentioned.
Sure some bugs will be released a week later but it gets fixed easier because the comment is well explained.
The quality, really is an issue. I sometimes have difficulty with this. I've been poking around Colony the last few days trying to keep the comments clean.
I struggle with the comments that have been said before. Like the, "This is such a great game! Colony is the best strategic game out there"
The above isn't EXACTLY spam, alone. However, there are hundreds of comments just like that.
Whichever release contains that feature, you can expect tons of feedback to make sure it's effective as best it can Besides. Stickies and tons of "dun't do dis" comments can only go so far.
in my opinion i dont think you will ever get rid of spammers because whatever you do to the website trying to restrick comments will end up in a bunch of cons rather than good things.I think people should be fined after a certain number of spams.
