You guys do an amazing lot of work. Keep it up!

Hey, TGIF everyone. And to all of those who might be culled (myself included)...good riddance.

(=

I hope you do find a good solution and keep us updated. It sucks that there has to be change because of the recent event but if its for the better I'm all for it. I'm behind you crecente!

Anything you need to do to keep that travesty from happening again is fine by me.Life is too short to bitch at each other all of the time.

I tried to avoid that whole post (or at least its comments like the plague). I would argue that you should only allow people with those stars next to their names to speak in threads that you guys flag. That way only intelligent people will be able to post on subjects that are... divisive. :D

Innovation rather than renovation. Can't tell you how glad I am to hear that Kotaku is working on solutions to the problem. Shit does still hit the fan every so often, even on a site of this calbre.

(thumbs-up to Crecente)

Oh, this can't be good...
My posting art will be gone!
Please don't ban haiku =(

My butt has an idea.

i think it's more than the thread mentioned that caused this frustration. i've noticed an increased amount of potential trolling comments in the past months and have a hidden suspicion its due to the gamespot fiasco. readers may have felt betrayed and went in search of another site, only to bring their ignorance along with them

You guys should handle it like fark, server side comment filters.

some of those suggestions should really be put into action

i love kotaku for its comments, so i also raged when i saw all that crap

but i really didn't want to be like everybody else so i decided no to answer back -.-

how them the ban hammer brian!

@tme2nsb: "facepalm"

You know, for the number of malignable posts here, there are also a large number of funny, interesting, or informative posts. So I hope whatever solution you guys come up with doesn't curtail those posts. I.e. don't let one bad thread ruin the entire site.

Nice to see sumthing is being done about this shenanigan

Wow. I definitely slept through that post. Had no idea it was even there. That had to have been a pretty frustrating wake-up.

@GREY GECKO:
meant "Show them"
still needs edit button =(

Maybe my perception of what constitutes an intelligent opinion on the internet has been dulled by a lot of the mindless garbage that gets put up around the net, but I found the some of the comments section in that post pretty interesting to read. There was a fair amount of trash posts, but there were also quite a few well-thought intelligent responses to it. It's a hot issue and always fun to see the range of opinions on how race should or shouldn't be an issue in video gaming.

That said I was pretty shocked to see it reach such a high number of comments (I quit reading it earlier when there were only about 200) so I can't speak on the majority of posts that came later in the day. I do enjoy the comment system here and find that there's quit a good ratio of smart:dumb commenters on this site. The same cannot be said for some other gaming blogs... *coughjoystiqcough*

@tme2nsb: we stand corrected@GREY GECKO: this brings to mind, a quote from a former elderly co-worker of mine: "some people's kids these days", huh?

@Dorphat the Insomniac: This is Kotaku Haikus have no place on here. Ban ALL who post them!

If I don't make it through the cull... I want to come back as a Prinny.

If I don't make it through this culling... I want to come back as a Prinny.

I see dark times coming...

@NitrousO: I didn't just try to, I did. There's nothing to gain there. It's a nightmare.

@Mr.SithNinja:

This is Kotaku
Haikus have no place on here.
Ban ALL who post them!

( sorry for the double. not sure why it posted that way)

i saw the "problem post" there, but by the time i read the post, then the article, and read through some of the comments, there were hundreds of mini battles going on, and only like, 5 intelligent conversations, so i just stayed out of it all together

Perhaps some way to organise comments into points and counter-points, or some sort of categorisation as needed by the topic? Most commenters on this site seem to share the same opinion, even when (and it becomes more visible in this case) that opinion is in part ignorant or hate-filled.

N'Gai attempted to do a quick and dirty post-colonial critique of the trailer, even highlighting his own apprehension regarding BOTH sides of the argument, and people respond with shouts of "racism only exists because people point it out" or similar.

Sure enough, it is a valid opinion and should be heard (even if I think it is frankly one of the most naive opinions I've ever heard), but not heard 100 times before I can hear a different one, and certainly one that shouldn't be heard if the voice of said opinion is
a - angry (especially while only reading the article excerpt)
b - judgmental (especially with little grasp on the facts)
and
c - a prick

Categorisation of reactions to articles/news could help this problem a bit, perhaps?

"If you disagree with someone then disagree, but don't resort to calling names, don't use caps, don't generalize. Dissent with smart, thoughtful comments, create a dialog or go somewhere else, because frankly, you're embarrassing me."

That made me feel something. I wish the internet could be civil. Maybe Kotaku can set a precedence for the internet... but only time can tell. Improving the process will improve the product and by products. Go Kotaku!

Go Kotaku tech team!

@tme2nsb: herein lies the problem....

Much like I made the argument that accusations of "fanboy" leading to banning would lead to a witch hunt, I am afraid this will do the same.

Just because there is a disagreement doesn't mean it's a mob. It means it's a heated subject with high running tensions. This means that this subject is obviously a sore spot, and needs to be discussed in order to get by it.

Now, the medium of which to discuss it can be discounted. I suppose the heavy and loaded subject like racism is probably best not discussed on a gaming forum. But Brian, to be fair, you guys posted the story and opened the subject to discussion. It's only natural it was going to be discussed.

Obviously, the trolls and the flame baiters should be dealt with. But leaving them out of the equation for a moment, when you open a discussion, you can't be upset when people post on it.

When I saw it it was at 700 raging comments, that must've been hell to clean up.

I sure hope that nothing too drastic happens. I didn't read the post in question, and by the time in checked it out there were well over 1000 posts. I'm a fast reader but not that fast. I love it here, I only comment occasionally, and I make sure to think long and hard about what I'm going to say. Having said that, I hope you find a way to only block idiotic commenters and leave the good honest commenters.

Hey lets protect ourselves from the ravages of the internet. OPINIONS.

No comments will get you zero reader interaction.
Comments for all with get you what happened in that article. Expecting anything less is naive.
Comments for some will get you labelled an elitist site.

Have fun dealing with one of those three 3 problems.

@JohnRabbit: You do know that Kotaku still isn't a place for everybody to comment.

TGIF everyone. Either or, Kotaku is my 3rd stop every morning regardless of post lockout.

I am very happy with the work of the "tech guys".

This site is very dinamic, and Is always adding features and fixing problems.
This is something special of this site. On other sites the code is from ages ago.
Of course, sometimes we hit a bug, because code is new, but his is very rare, and is a very small fee.

Is another reason to love Kotaku.

So.. tech guys. Nice work, and thanks!.

--Tei

Again, another one of my comments don't show up. :( did I get banned?

I was listening to this earlier and found it appropriate:

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

By the way, that's a shitty way to start your morning Crecente, here's hoping you come to a solution.

Race, Politics, and Religion are always messy issues. Anytime one or the other is brought to the table for discussion, reason is lost somewhere along the way and the discussion turns into a multiple-sided rant.

As someone said previously, there will be an issue anyway you slice it. Comments are one of the best parts of Kotaku. However, like most things involving people, comments are also the worst. There is no solution to this Catch-22. The LUE course of action spawns little good either.

@ph15h:

"If you disagree with someone then disagree, but don't resort to calling names, don't use caps, don't generalize. Dissent with smart, thoughtful comments, create a dialog or go somewhere else, because frankly, you're embarrassing me."

I that made me feel something too.

I don't know about the rest of you but Kotaku has become something like a religion to me. I AM an obsessive gamer, and I check this site like it's my job. I literally have not missed a single post in over a year. Reading the Brian(s) night notes back and forth and the general feel of this site,... for someone like me it just doesnt get any better than Kotaku. If I was running Kotaku, you'd best believe I would be proud as shit of what it has become and is. And I just have to say I feel for Crecente when he says "you're embarrassing me." Kotaku is the best of what it is, and it got that way through hard work, dedication, and integrity. To have it morph into something akin to IGN or joystiq or youtube would be a goddamned shame. I say cull the masses, do whatever needs to be done, ban me if need be, but above anything else make sure you get the site to where it makes you comfortable enough to get back to doing what you do best: Making Kotaku fucking awesome.

@slomo788: Only if you are a troll or make really bad comments (the ugly ones not the funny ones)...

Comment ranking and burying seems to work well on other sites(slashdot). With the star system here, good posts and posters would be resistant to organized attempts at burial. Threading the comments would also make replies a lot more relevant(or more easily ignored).

kotaku should have those thumbs up/ thumbs down thingies like youtube.

@SkutSkut: and for that, i feel sorry for witzy. must've been dreadful to run through...

@PapaBear434: i could be wrong, but i don't thing the problem was people discussing it, i believe it was the people who said things like "fuck you so and so" or "you are wrong and i am right, end of discussion" or worse yet "BLAH BLAH BLAH RACISM BLAH BLAH LISTEN TO ME AND ONLY ME." obviously certain discussions will get a little more heated than others, but i think all the Kotaku team is asking for is a little thought process before the submit button is pushed. granted i am not 100% innocent of this, but i like to think that i at least keep myself open to other lines of thought rather than closing the door to any idea that isn't my own.

@ForwardInReverse: If you get a song, I get a song!

Ahem...

If I had a banhammer,
I'd banhammer in the morning,
I'd banhammer in the evening,
All over this land.
I'd banhammer out danger,
I'd banhammer out a warning,
I'd banhammer out love between my brothers and my sisters,
All over this land.

(With apologies to Pete Seeger)

Any stories that have the subject matter such as the Croal story I tend to know not to comment on them. I read the post internalized it and formulated my own opinion, but just kept it to myself. Stuff like that is seldom debatable in a non-combative way. Most people just won't be able to do it.

Either way, Brian, I am grateful for service you and Kotaku provide for all of us.

@aka Bitter: I agree, I think a more structured comment system with comment-level features would be good. At very least it would help keep things organized. Responding to multiple people in a single post is nice, but doesn't lend itself well to keeping track of multiple overlapping conversations.

I like to think that occasionally we do have intelligent, civil conversations. Today there were a good number of them. But sometimes there's just something in the air... :/

Man, closing the gates now would be a shame, but if it must be done. I don't think it would be fair to start banning alot of people unless they really deserve it, now that they are already in, as it would become hard to draw the line on who goes and who stays.

I always said that I used to love it back when Kotaku posts never reached more then 50 commenters, and it was literally only a few people talking, as it NEVER devolved into rabid screaming and name-calling. Those were good ole days, but then again, Kotaku has grown MUCH since then. It would not be wise to cut off all commenter's now that your fanbase is so large, as it would just alienate people and force them to take their eyes elsewhere.

I can think of a few ways to weed out the crowd.

-Maybe a strike out system, where people can say a certain comment is crap, and if enough people flag it, the commenter gets a strike, and after a certain number, is tossed out, or silenced for X number of hours/days.

-a "team" of commenter's who have the ability to vote people out (like, maybe have a bunch of veterans who don't have the ability to ban, ala Witz, but can do the flagging of a commenter, and if enough veterans flag it, its a ban/temp ban. Or the commenter is alerted to Witz for review.

-An XBL stance, where commenter's get a rating and if it drops below X%, and stays there for awhile, the commenter will finally be banned.

I dunno what you guys can do, its a really hard decision and you would have to strike a real balance in order to satisfy everyone AND keep your image. Like others have said, Kotaku is still eons above the rest of the gaming universe of sites, but still might be better to nip it in the bud before it gets worse.

Good luck guys, and keep up the good work.

@rupinderpaul: Thing is, you shouldn't have to keep it to yourself. We should all be mature enough to keep level heads when discussing such polarizing topics. It's not asking that much, but obviously it's difficult for some people. You should totally be free to debate and offer your own opinion, and it's sad that sometimes legitimate posts get buried under garbage and people's egos. Let's hope Crecente and the tech gnomes come up with some way of filtering or somehow limiting the useless comments. Even if it means wiping us all out of the system and making us earn our ability to comment again, I think it'd be worth it if the level of discourse goes up a notch or two.

I want to add that I love this site. It feels like a community. One with great management and community comments. I am proud to be a part of this community, even though I don't comment that often.

It is unfortunate that some people have managed to forget to respect their fellow Kotakuites. I wholeheartedly back up any decisions that the Kotaku team decides on.

I just hope that posts like these and the examples set by those that think and reason and show consideration in their comments will be enough to guide those that may stray from respecting fellow Kotakuites.