The Five Finalists For Kotaku's New Comment Czar

Sorry for the delay, we've been having technical problems so I wasn't able to get the run down of the five most popular commenters until late yesterday.

Here for your approval and general discussion our the top five Kotaku commenters. I'll be posting a poll on Monday and then, after discussion with the other Kotaku writers, announcing the new Comment Czar on Tuesday.

If you're on the list and don't want to wield the mighty banhammer for some bizarre reason make sure to drop me a line and I'll cut you from the list.

EnigmaNemesis
TheIrishNinja
Spoony Bard
PapaBear434
DaiMacculate

Hit the jump to vote. And remember, we still have the final say.

Work for Kotaku (In Comments)

We've been running a commenting contest of sorts for a month or so now. If you're into control and want to get paid to sort of work for Kotaku, then make sure to check out our Komment King contest, where we are desperately searching for the new Commenting Czar for Kotaku. A Kotaku Tower position which will pay $200 a month and grant one lucky reader access to the mighty Ban Hammer. Check out the link for all of the rules and such.

We were originally going to pull the names from the hat on Monday, but I've decided to push things back to today. So you still have one more chance to throw your hat in for the job.

Become Kotaku's Next King of Comments

Don't forget we're running a commenting contests of sorts right now. If you're into control and want to get paid to sort of work for Kotaku, then make sure to check out our Komment King contest, where we are desperately searching for the new Commenting Czar for Kotaku. A Kotaku Tower position which will pay $200 a month and grant one lucky reader access to the might Ban Hammer. Check out the link for all of the rules and such.

Become Kotaku's Next King of Comments [Kotaku]

Get Paid To Comment and Ban

Don't forget we're running a commenting contests of sorts right now. If you're into control and want to get paid to sort of work for Kotaku, then make sure to check out our Komment King contest, where we are desperately searching for the new Commenting Czar for Kotaku. A Kotaku Tower position which will pay $200 a month and grant one lucky reader access to the might Ban Hammer. Check out the link for all of the rules and such.

Become Kotaku's Next King of Comments [Kotaku]

Become Kotaku's Next King of Comments

It's been almost six months since we were fortunate enough to discover Witzbold and appoint him, with your blessing, as the Kotaku's Commenting Czar. In that time Wtizbold has ruled with an iron fist, wielding the ban hammer to dispatch Trolls, Flamers and Asshats in a flurry of bans. But now it's time to let Witz pass the hammer to his successor. No one can be expected to ban, and welcome new commenters for ever, not without shortening their lifespan.

So we're on the prowl for a comments moderator of sorts, a gatekeeper to Kotaku Tower, if you will. Someone who will prowl the posts and comments on a daily basis, weeding out the bad, helping out the conversation, anointing new readers.

We can only pay $200 a month for your help, but you do get to wield the mighty banhammer and will be given the keys to the commenting gates. If you remain interested, hit the jump for how to apply. Yes, there is a contest (of sorts) involved.

A Week In Comments

A Week In Comments

Indiana Jones isn't racy, unless your son is really young. I thin I was about 10 when my father watched Raiders with me, and I'm well adjusted. At least, I like treasure and hate Nazis.

A Week In Comments

Sid Meier To Get GDC Lifetime Achievement Award
Comment by: Maximus9
Nominated by: MaxS

He doesn't want no stinking plaque or trophy! Send the man to space for God's sake...that's what he really wants! What Richard Garriott can go, but we can't afford to send him? The guy is inspiring millions of kids to want to be astronauts and build things instead of destroy them.

Zero Punctuation Doesn't Hate Crysis
Comment by: dowingba
Nominated by: geekgrrl

RE5 is racist because you kill black people. San Andreas was racist because you play a black person. Basically, if a game has any black people in it, it's automatically racist.

Send Your Ban Requests Here

It's been a gang-buster year here in the Kotaku Tower. Sure our traffic's grown, we've played lots of games, been to tons of fun conventions, but the thing that makes me most proud is that Kotaku has the most comments of any of the Gawker sites. That's right, we're even beating the monstrously large Gizmodo in comments. And of course that's all because of you, the reader.

Our techies just dumped a bunch of year-end data in my lap for me to pick through and included in that was a list of Kotaku's most commented on stories. I've listed the top 15 after the jump, not including the contests and Komment King posts.

Kommenter King

Don't forget that you still have two more weeks to try and amass a commenting army to wrest control of the ban hammer from Ash and I.

The top five commenters with the most followers will be in the running to be named the new commenting czar which, along with being able to wield the ban hammer, will pay $200 a month.

Getting the break down is pretty work intensive, but last time we checked Witzbold wasn't just the leader at Kotaku, he actually has the most followers Gawker wide with 188 minions, followed by TheIrishNinja with 77, EnigmaNemesis with 75, PapaBear4 with 66 and dv8godd with 43. Remember it doesn't matter where in the top five you fall, just so you land there, and you still have plenty of time to recruit.

Full rules here.

Become the King of Komments at Kotaku

I told you the next contest wouldn't involve any counting, at least not on your part.

Having long held the crown for the Gawker site with the most comments, we think it's about time we put someone in charge of keeping things moving along. Fact is, Ash and I are just plain overwhelmed with the effort required to read the comments on all of the posts, activate the deadly banhammer and welcome new commenters into the Kotaku fold. Yes, we still do that manually... one at a time.

So we're on the prowl for a comments moderator of sorts, a gatekeeper to Kotaku Tower, if you will. Someone who will prowl the posts and comments on a daily basis, weeding out the bad, helping out the conversation, anointing new readers and even, occasionally, writing a post or two.

We can only pay $200 a month for your help, but you do get to wield the mighty banhammer and will be given the keys to the commenting gates. If you remain interested, hit the jump for how to apply. Yes, there is a contest (of sorts) involved.

An Old Fashioned Week In Comments

Sony Pleading to Keep Third Parties on PS3
Comment by -EDGE-
Nominated by treize

You know every time I read something like this, no matter the console my heart dies a little bit. I am a gamer, I have been for most of my natural life. Seeing any one of these companies fail at something I love, sucks...SEGA anyone (among others).
I love games, and the people and companies who make it possible for me to enjoy them. This is not to say I like any of their respective corporate politics or general BS. But at the end of the day no matter how old I get, I will always be that kid who stared in amazement the first time I realized a story and art was no longer confined to film and books. That art could reach out and be experienced in, and on a whole new level.
You may think I'm a sap or am waxing poetic lamenting a loss that has not happened. And in a way I am...somehow we the "hardcore" gamers became so jaded that we have missed the forest for the trees.
/Sorry for the rant

New Wii Gift Feature, But No Price Cut
Comment by hotblack

Not cutting the price on the Wii itself is understandable. Adding the gift feature for the Shop Channel, while cool, is frankly a joke when there are still outstanding problems with the VC:
- Sort out the various PAL release issues
- Lower the cost of Wii Points outside of the US and Japan
- Allow the exact amount of points needed for a purchase to be paid for
- Add a solution for playing downloaded content from SD cards or another storage medium
- Introduce the long awaited Star Points/Wii Points conversion
- Add a mechanism for moving games between consoles
First rule of software development, fix outstanding issues before trying to add features.

Several Weeks In Comments

ThinkGeek's 8-Bit Tie Goes Gold
Comment by MeanMF
Nominated by sethmad

It's only 45P resolution. It should be at least 72P. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE EXTRA LINES??

The Consoles Defined in One Sentence
Comment by bernbaum
Nominated by peteer02

@peteer02:
Wii:
Flail like a moron,
It's really just two gamecubes,
Grandma loves this shit.
360:
White and noisy box,
I hope it doesn't explode,
Please don't hump my corpse
PS3:
Rumble is last gen,
Can I have some games now please?
Oh wait, rumble's back.

How to Get Banned: A Primer

It's been awhile since I've posted about our commenting policies here on Kotaku. They are, I believe, different than with most other sites.

We are not content to allow our posts to just fill up with white noise, people posting FIRST! or GAY! or Not NEWS! Despite our proficiency in posts about what I like to call gaming culture (cakes, costumes, pumpkins) we do take our jobs and the topic we cover quite seriously. (And we like to work in a douche-free zone.)

I like nothing more than to hear someone make a smart argument about what an idiot I am. I love to hear thoughtful discourse about what makes one of our opinions totally and completely wrong. Disagreement, when presented thoughtfully, is the best thing that can come from a story written on Kotaku.

And for the most part, our commenters, you men and women, are a thoughtful bunch. You daily pwn me in logic, proving the power of your arguments in amazing posts. Often, and I'm being quite serious, I'm humbled by the thoroughness and thoughtfulness of your comments. Many times the value of a post is far outweighed by the value of the comments made about it.

But those singing comments—that mostly intellectual, funny, zippy tone in our group discussions—doesn't come without some effort on our part. That, my friends, is what the banhammer is all about. Really I should call it a trowel, because we use it not to crush commenters but to weed out trolls and the people who'd like nothing more than to fill the halls of Kotaku Tower with echoes of fanboyism, flamewars and tripe.

So disagree with us, please. Just don't be banal, god forbid, uninteresting.

Kotaku Comments FAQ

This Is Hyper Multi-Tap

Sure, we love banning. No, we adore it. Gotta run a tight ship, weed out the tools and nitwits and make the site more readable. But what about our razor sharp, funny as hell and wonderfully wonderful commenters? We love them. No, we adore them. And for them, we have Multi-Tap. But Multi-Tap, it's kinda short. We only do between five and seven comments. But there are more out there. Here's where you, dear reader, come into play.

Starting tomorrow, Hyper Multi-Tap starts. What is Hyper Multi-Tap? It's like regular old Multi-Tap, but better. Well, better if you make it better. Because we'd like ya'll to submit comments that you think should be in Multi-Tap. You have a say! Here's how it works: Send us the link to the comment thread, along with a link to that commenter's page and a link to your own page. We need ALL THREE THINGS for them to be considered. If not, well, forget it! We'll make selections based on what we receive as well as comments we enjoyed. Bitch about the final selection and feel the brunt end of the hammer.

Can you nominate yourself? Nope! The point is to reward your fellow Kotakuland sisters and brothers. So don' nominate yourself! Commenters who submissions are selected will get linked in Multi-Tap, too. So if you send us a smacking comment, then you'll see a "Submitted by: YOUR NAME" in Multi-Tap. Everyone wins! So send your submissions to our TIPS address, and the best ones will make it into the Friday edition. We're really like to double the size of Multi-Tap. But that really depends on you, now doesn't it?

A Last Week In Comments (Late Edition)

Gay Gamer Target of Hate Crime

This week has been awful for those of us who like to pretend that videogaming is not a hobby dominated by 13-year-old boys and the 30-year-old men that think like them. Between this and the two racism threads, it's been like a game discussion struggling to be heard over a Klan rally.

And you know what? I honestly don't think it is that "people posting on the Internet anonymously say things they would never say in real life." After reading all of the comments on all three threads (yes, it's been a slow week at work) I seriously do think that a solid half the posters here are homophobes and/or racists and would be even if I showed up at their houses one by one to give them hugs.

It's depressing and makes me wish I'd latched on to a different pastime that attracts less idiots.

A Week In Comments (Ban Monday Info)

he's got a real point - rockstar has a huge problem with the fact that they only have one popular franchise and can't seem to get out of it.